(7/20) Following disagreements over budget amendments, the Thurmont Board of Commissioners and mayor have decided to review the Town's take-home vehicle policy. After a heated discussion at the July 2 meeting, they will discuss the policy at the next meeting.

Commissioner Marty Burns initially raised concerns at the June 18 meeting about reimbursing an electric department staff member $3,000 for mileage. The staff member had to use his personal vehicle after a Town truck was wrecked and Burns objected to paying for his commute.

At the June 18 meeting, Town Manager Jim Humerick, who was not present at the July 2 meeting, explained that the staff member is entitled to a "take-home" vehicle, justifying the reimbursement of mileage and other related expenses.

Burns brought up the issue again at the July 2 meeting while the Board was reviewing the same budget amendments for the previous fiscal year. He cited an example from his time in the federal government, where he would deduct the mileage for his typical commute to the Pentagon if he were required to commute to another location.

"It is a bad optic and a bad policy to pay our employees to drive to and from their home to get to work," Burns said. "If they have a vehicle and it’s take-home, that’s a separate topic."

Mayor John Kinnaird continued to disagree with Burns on the issue. "Thank you for your input, Mr. Burns, but to be honest with you, what you do at the Pentagon has nothing to do with what we do here in the Town of Thurmont," he said. "I appreciate your opinion on it, though, thank you very much."

Burns called the statement disrespectful, reminding Kinnaird that both are government entities. "If you’d like, I can make a motion that we strike the $3,000 from this, we do not approve it and I make a motion that we strike the take-home car policy out of state," Burns said. "How’s that?"

Kinnaird asked for a second, which Commissioner Bill Blakeslee provided. Burns rescinded the motion, clarifying that he didn’t really want to make that motion, but rather wanted to ensure that the Board had a serious discussion about the vehicle and mileage reimbursement policy.

"It makes reasonable sense that if we require our employees to use their personal vehicles at the work site outside of their commuting distance, that is absolutely reasonable," he said. He went on to explain that he believes it does make sense to emulate the federal government’s policies since they are both government entities.

Kinnard accepted Burns’ rescission, jokingly asking if he needs a second to rescind the motion. Blakeslee laughed while raising his hand to second the rescission, after explaining that his previous jobs had the same policy as Burns experienced in the federal government.