Beginning Sept. 1, Vicksburg city employees will park their city cars at the office and drive their personal cars to and from work.

The new policy is part of a move by city officials reduce costs by restricting the use of the city’s vehicle fleet.

According to a memo sent Thursday to all city departments, only a few city employees will be allowed to drive city cars home.

“We’re having to make cost-saving measures, and we’re looking at cutting back on fuel for savings,” Mayor Paul Winfield said. “Over the last few years, we’ve averaged about $750,000 a year in fuel, and I’d like to get it to about $500,000.”

According the city purchasing department, the city has spent $767,290 on fuel for its vehicles from Oct. 1, 2010, through Friday.

According to the policy memo, police chief Walter Armstrong and deputy chiefs Mitchell Dent and John Dolan, fire chief Charles Atkins and deputy chief Kenneth Daniels, safety director Robert “Ki” Miles, gas system director James Beamon, water system director Dane Lovell, sewer department director Willie McCroy and building and maintenance janitor Walter Crum will be permitted to take city vehicles home.

Police department investigators and city employees who are on call can take city cars home while they are on call.

Armstrong said the new policy should not affect his department, which uses the most cars of any city department.

He said the department has 70 officers who drive a car home under the police department’s car-per-man policy. The list of officers with cars includes the department’s 50 patrol officers, investigators, narcotics and juvenile officers, and crime scene investigators. He said the department has several spare cars available if a car breaks down.

“The officers will still use their assigned car, but they’ll just park it at the station when their shift is over,” he said. “Officers on call, like investigators, narcotics and juvenile officers, will take a car home, so there won’t be any ill effect on that end.”