Ally Miller—already in a celebratory mood with the crash of the county’s bond program at the polls last week—is continuing her crusade to expose her fellow board members’ waste to tax dollars because they drive county-issued cars.

This week, the supervisors are set to consider an agenda item on the use of county cars for themselves and other county employees at the Tuesday, Nov. 10, board meeting.

Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry sent out a memo on Oct. 13 for the board to consider before tomorrow’s vote—and one of the key points he makes is that it appears that Miller failed to properly account for her own personal use of her county-issued car before she turned it in and, in the process, may have cheated on her federal taxes.

Huckelberry notes early in the memo that Miller’s motivation in the push to be rid of county-issued vehicles “was designed as political theater” but adds that it’s a legitimate topic for conversation.

Huckelberry argues that allowing some county employees—including the elected supervisors—to take their vehicles home makes sense. Since supervisors have to travel in order to find out what’s happening in their districts (or, in other words, do their jobs), they’d be eligible for mileage reimbursement if they weren’t driving county cars. And in the case of larger districts like Democrat Sharon Bronson’s District 3 or Republican Ray Carroll’s District 4, the number of miles driven would soon exceed the cost of providing a county car, so, as Huckelberry puts it, “Obviously, the savings are not significant.”

But the other point Huckelberry makes in the memo revolves around Miller’s curious claim that she only drove 100 personal miles with her county-issued car in the nine months she used one.

Miller, like the other supervisors, was required to report her personal miles to the county because that’s considered a taxable benefit that must be reported to the IRS.

The report notes that Miller lives about 15 miles from the county’s downtown headquarters but she claimed she only drove 100 personal miles over the nine months she had a county-issued car.

As Huckelberry puts it in the memo: “The amount of personal miles for the 12 months ending Oct. 31, 2014, varies widely by supervisor with the least reported by Supervisor Miller at 100 miles per year and the most reported by Supervisor Richard Elias at 3,500 miles per year. This is an extreme variance.”

Huckelberry was more blunt in a comment to the Weekly: “Based on her reporting, Supervisor Miller either only traveled to/from work 3 times in one year or did not accurately report her personal mileage as required by the IRS.”

Miller did not respond to a request through her chief of staff, Jeannie Davis, to comment on the suggestion that she was not accurately reporting her mileage.

Besides the shot across Miller’s bow regarding her apparent failure to properly account for the personal use of her county-issued vehicle, Huckelberry makes other points about the benefit of take-home vehicles.

The county has a total of 645 take-home vehicles, but 493 of those belong to the Sheriff’s Department. Huckelberry’s memo notes that allowing deputies to take their vehicles home has benefits, “such as the ability to immediately respond to on-call or emergency situations, as well as the crime deterrent effects of having a marked patrol vehicle in a neighborhood.”

Huckelberry’s conclusion: “I would recommend no modifications to vehicle take-home policies, nor would I recommend any modifications to the take-home policy for county elected officials. I do recommend that the county notify, in writing, all individuals who report personal mileage to ensure they understand personal mileage must be accurately reported and that failure to do so could result in IRS fines and penalties for underreporting county-provided benefits.”

This article appears in Nov 5-11, 2015.

Getting hassled by The Man Mild-mannered reporter

15 replies on “Did County Supervisor Ally Miller Lie About Her Own Use of County-Issued Vehicle?”

  1. Why isn’t Ally also against redecorating Supervisors’ offices (to the tune of $15,000 or so)? Is it because she didn’t seem to have a problem with that particular tax money expenditure when she did it right after getting elected?

    I think she may still be upset about not being able to get her neighbors’ roads resurfaced, since they are surely far more deserving of nice roads than anyone else in Pima County. Because, if you don’t live in the Foothills, you really don’t matter. Right, Ally?

  2. Sounds like the Stupidvisors are angry about losing the bond election. Why else would they now care about waste?

    That bond loss is on them. They have proven they can not be trusted.

    But let me get this straight. Because she under reported her mileage she was not given additional taxable benefits, thus saving county taxpayers money. Do I have that right? So she is being pursued to claim more miles.

  3. What about Chuckelberrys take home pay? It is too high for such a one horse county. Take a pay cut Chuck. Dump the car, pay down the debt and reduce property taxes!

  4. So the Weekly couldn’t find anything to report about regarding the continual financial hemorrhaging the County has under Chuck “OVERPAID” Huckleberry and the other Stupidvisors who think the only way to economic success is to spend, spend, spend, and go deeper into debt. So grasping at straws the Weekly has to do a hit piece on the only voice of “Reason” the county has, Ally Miller and worries about her reporting her mileage. How weak minded are you assholes.

  9. The number of actual emergencies responded to as documented is extremely small relative to the number of take home days and number of cars. Less than 1%. And there is absolutely no data supporting the “crime deterrent ” rational for the large number of take home cars. There really is no reason for all these take home cars. I actually support Millers use of a county car. But she is using it more than reported.

  10. The article is a joke in overall accountability on Tucson Weekly. Then again anyone can see the public relations departments of governments spoon feed information to reporters. The reporters then can get inside and exclusive information thinking this is a public service. Just being in the pipeline of info so they meet at coffee shops lunches dinners and awards banquets for the great job they are doing. Just look at the Job just given to the new sheriff and the bloated Sheriffs department.

    For the last 3 decades the democratic machine has held pima county held in a limbo of representation. Over those 3 decades Tucson could have expanded its limits. Cities could have been formed to share in the state tax base and overall community support. The Democratic party that represented Pima county has allowed Tucson to become a bedroom community relying in tourism and the University. Now as the board of regents dismantles the states University system into teaching and research leaving Tucson with some very influential colleges but a shell of it’s former glory. Copper is now down to just 7% of the labor need as what was need in 1972 to produce a pound of copper. Indian gaming taking a huge chunk of revenue out of the coffers and then wanting to do the civil work on the reservation.

    So in the last 30 years the tax base has dwindled as we try to entice people here with fairways and Gaming and Entertainment on the reservation hardly a game of life any more.

  12. Hey Rat, did your fingers get broken after the post above? You only posted that comment once. What’s the matter?

  13. I don’t know. It stopped doing it again. Trust me it’s not intentional. It’s tough enough to tell you guys once, let alone two times.

  14. No critical analysis whatsoever of the petty nature behind Huck the Memo King’s cursory tax investigation that somehow concludes that Ally Miller has committed tax fraud. Since when does the bureaucrat that is answerable to the Board of Supervisors become so comfortable that he thinks it’s O.K. to campaign for or against one of his bosses? Looks like retaliation against Ally Miller for actually representing her constituencies instead of the moneyed interests forcing the agendas. If Arizona wasn’t so corrupt, someone would find that Huckelberry is abusing his position. As we can see here, you can’t count on the Tucson Weekly for any reasonable coverage. Just the establishment drivel.

  15. Many of us have had to report mileage. It is not hard to do; it just requires a little organizing. It is, however, very easy to refuse to do.

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