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Officials in Knoxville, Tennessee are debating costly car allowances of government workers, but some say the solution is as easy as integrating GPS technology into the fleet of cars throughout the city.

Knoxville Mayor Tim Burchett took a stand against inflated costs of car allowances, saying he was going to look for ways to create sweeping reductions throughout the city. He intended to save residents $50,000 per year, with county workers using the federal system to be reimbursed 51 cents per mile to cover gas costs.

Opinions throughout the county commissioners were mixed as to what would be the appropriate amount of money for gas reimbursement, as well as what the best plan of action would be to ensure savings really do arise in the end.

County Commissioner R. Larry Smith said that the solution to the problem is to use GPS technology to keep proper track of miles covered by city employees. Smith went on to explain that the use of such technology takes the guesswork out of wondering whether or not workers are turning in legitimate numbers or if they are inflating mileage for financial gain.

The move would come on the heels of many other communities throughout the country that have taken similar approaches, using GPS tracking technology to provide the most accurate statistics of government workers.

Knoxville officials cited high costs in all divisions, including the county school system which, in the prior year, showed 175 employees accounting for a total of $231,676 in reimbursement for car allowances.

Article Written by Greg Minton