Newton resident concerned about honor system

A Newton, Mass., resident fears that an honor system is simply not enough to prevent misuse of the 62 take-home cars for city employees, the Newton TAB reported. The only things tracked are gasoline usage and miles per gallon; trip logs are not required.

Last year, Newton spent nearly $120,000 on 62 cars that some city employees can take home. And while taxpayers foot the bill for gas and maintenance for the cars, employees are not asked to submit trip logs or otherwise explain how they use the vehicles.

“To some extent, we’re on the honor system,” said mayoral spokesman Jeremy Solomon. “Overall, we don’t consider abuse of vehicles in the city to be a problem.”

But the city’s policy didn’t sit well with one Newton resident. In February, Ted Kaplan requested information about the take-home cars under the Freedom of Information Act. What he found out just led to more questions.

More here.