CHARLESTON, W.Va -- Nearly 500 state employees used state vehicles to commute to and from work in 2008, but 90 of them failed to report the vehicle as a taxable benefit, a legislative audit released Wednesday shows.

Those who didn't report their use of state vehicles as income include three agency heads -- state Agriculture Commissioner Gus Douglas, state Treasurer John Perdue and Bluefield State College President Albert Walker, auditors found.

West Virginia spends $60 million to $70 million a year to operate its fleet of nearly 7,000 vehicles -- including $24 million for gasoline alone in 2008 -- but has no effective means to monitor employees' use of the vehicles, according to the audit.

Numerous other state employees significantly under-reported the value of their use of state vehicles.

Internal Revenue Service rules allow employees to calculate a commuting value of $3 per workday -- if the vehicle is used at least 50 percent of the time for business purposes. However, if business use is less than 50 percent, the IRS requires that the reportable income be increased to the lease value of the vehicle.

The audit found many instances of state vehicles used primarily for non-business mileage -- including two Miners' Health, Safety and Training staffers with 22,536 and 27,936 miles of personal usage -- reported at only the $3 a day commuting value.

That meant they were reporting taxable income of several hundred dollars for the year - not the several thousand dollars of lease value they should have reported, as required by the IRS.

"This raises a policy question: Why are we providing cars to individuals basically to do nothing but commute?" legislative manager Aaron Allred told the legislative Post-Audits Committee.

"There's nothing in state law or rules that we could find that would prevent a state agency from giving an employee a car to commute," he said.

The Fleet Management Division of the Department of Administration has stricter rules for employees' use of state vehicles -- but accounts for only 1,700 of the 6,838 vehicles licensed to 88 different state agencies.

Administration Secretary Robert Ferguson told legislators that, over the years, a variety of state agencies have been authorized to operate their own vehicle fleets, including Highways, Natural Resources, Forestry, the attorney general's office, the State Police, and most higher education institutions.

"There has been an inordinate amount of paper generated since the governor took office on the pros and cons of consolidating the fleet," he said.

"I think what we're talking about here is not who's got the vehicle, but the proper reporting of personal use of the vehicle," Senate President Earl Ray Tomblin, D-Logan, said of the audit.

"I would think the governor's office would have the ability to tell department heads, "Here's the federal law -- I want you to follow it," Tomblin said.

Those who didn't report their use of state vehicles as income include three agency heads -- state Agriculture Commissioner Gus Douglas, state Treasurer John Perdue and Bluefield State College President Albert Walker, auditors found.

West Virginia spends $60 million to $70 million a year to operate its fleet of nearly 7,000 vehicles -- including $24 million for gasoline alone in 2008 -- but has no effective means to monitor employees' use of the vehicles, according to the audit.

Numerous other state employees significantly under-reported the value of their use of state vehicles.

Internal Revenue Service rules allow employees to calculate a commuting value of $3 per workday -- if the vehicle is used at least 50 percent of the time for business purposes. However, if business use is less than 50 percent, the IRS requires that the reportable income be increased to the lease value of the vehicle.

The audit found many instances of state vehicles used primarily for non-business mileage -- including two Miners' Health, Safety and Training staffers with 22,536 and 27,936 miles of personal usage -- reported at only the $3 a day commuting value.

That meant they were reporting taxable income of several hundred dollars for the year - not the several thousand dollars of lease value they should have reported, as required by the IRS.

"This raises a policy question: Why are we providing cars to individuals basically to do nothing but commute?" legislative manager Aaron Allred told the legislative Post-Audits Committee.

"There's nothing in state law or rules that we could find that would prevent a state agency from giving an employee a car to commute," he said.

The Fleet Management Division of the Department of Administration has stricter rules for employees' use of state vehicles -- but accounts for only 1,700 of the 6,838 vehicles licensed to 88 different state agencies.

Administration Secretary Robert Ferguson told legislators that, over the years, a variety of state agencies have been authorized to operate their own vehicle fleets, including Highways, Natural Resources, Forestry, the attorney general's office, the State Police, and most higher education institutions.

"There has been an inordinate amount of paper generated since the governor took office on the pros and cons of consolidating the fleet," he said.

"I think what we're talking about here is not who's got the vehicle, but the proper reporting of personal use of the vehicle," Senate President Earl Ray Tomblin, D-Logan, said of the audit.

"I would think the governor's office would have the ability to tell department heads, "Here's the federal law -- I want you to follow it," Tomblin said.