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Ohio taxpayers are expected to see financial savings as a result of a new GPS tracking system added to the fleet of government vehicles in the northeast region of the state.

Trumbull County Sanitation Engineer’s Office Executive Director Rex Fee explained to Trib Today that they were awaiting final approval from the county commissioners to install GPS tracking devices in all 32 of the vehicles in the department in order to maintain a greater sense of employee accountability.

Fee stated that while the city was looking into global position technology for quite some time, the decision was made all the more apparent when it was discovered two city employees in Warren were caught using government vehicles to run errands during work hours.

County Assistant Prosecutor Jim Brutz, who is counsel for the Sanitary Engineer said that after suspicions were raised about the two former employees, the city installed GPS tracking devices on their cars and it was quickly confirmed that they were misusing company time and wasting taxpayer’s money.

Fee added that even if they save one gallon of gas per vehicle as a result of the new systems, the cost of the systems will pay for itself. He went on to explain that the current system is steeped in inefficiencies. The first person who responds to a call will handle a matter, even if he or she isn’t in close proximity. However, the new GPS system will be take into account which driver is in that particular area, Fee explained.

Fee said after realizing that the U.S. Post Office and other national companies have reaped financial gains from similar moves, the county began looking to follow similar suit as a cost cutting measure.

Article Written by Greg Minton