CHATTANOOGA, TN- In a Sept. 11 meeting, the Chattanooga City Council made a decision to come up with the $400,000 required to restore take-home privileges for free to all city employees, reported the Chattanooga Times Free Press.

Mayor Ron Littlefield late last month issued an executive order requiring all city officials with take-home cars to pay $50 every two weeks to do so. Those who drove their vehicles to second jobs would pay an additional $25 every two weeks.

After hearing from Police Chief Freeman Cooper and Fire Chief Randy Parker, council members decided to look through the budget in an effort to come up with that money.

Chief Cooper advocated a one-for-all policy, meaning he wanted no officers to pay for take-home privileges or all of them. A potential compromise has been proposed that would have allowed those who live in the city limits to keep take-home privileges for free while requiring those who live outside Chattanooga to pay, reported the Press.

The mayor said he favors officers having take-home cars, and he cut city employees' longevity pay bonuses by 50 percent to offset some of the $1.4 million associated with those costs, according to the Press.