CHARLESTON, W.Va. — State Transportation Secretary Tom Smith says this week’s announcement that his agency is cutting 122 vehicles from the state Division of Highways fleet is a “down payment” on more cuts expected in the agency.
“Gov. Justice asked us to look for efficiencies everywhere we could. We are happy to be out of the starting blocks with this 122 but we’re not stopping there. We are looking for more,” Smith said Friday on MetroNews “Talkline.”
Smith is hopeful there can be a real savings of more than $1 million by taking the vehicles out of operation.
“That will be a million dollars we can put back in fixing the roads,” Smith said.
The 122 vehicles include cars, pick-up trucks, crew cab trucks, SUVs and vans, Smith said.
The search for cuts apparently won’t stop with the vehicle fleet. Smith said he’s looking at “organizational efficiencies.”
“We think there are plenty of places where we may have some offices that have duplicate functions and by combining some of those offices or combining those functions, we can realize some additional savings. That’s what we have to do with the challenges we have here,” Smith said.
A number of state agencies have cut vehicles in recent weeks totaling approximately 207.