Gas rates are not getting any cheaper. This hard fact prompted the Eutaw City Council to take a close look at their mileage reimbursement for city employees.

Eutaw Mayor Raymond Steele said the city does not encounter many situations where they have to reimburse employees for mileage. However, there are some on the table. Steele said the city’s rates were below that of the county and state and felt they should consider getting them closer.

“We have a couple of situations where we may have to pay mileage to employees before us now,” Steele said.

“I think at this time the county is paying 40.5 cents per mile. I think that is something we should look at too. I think the state is close to the same.”

Steele said they just wanted rates to be comparable to the county and state. He said there was no reason they should equal or exceed them.

“We don’t have to be as high as the state and we cannot exceed the state,” Steele said. “We do need to look at raising it.”

Currently, the state pays 40.5 cents, while the federal government pays 40.5. Greene County bases their rates on these figures. Each figure affects the other. When federal rates increase state rates increase, which filters into the county.

The council chose to make rates close, but slightly less than these figures agreeing to change the number to 40 cents per mile.

Steele said the new rate would not be put into practice very often, but it needed to be there when a situation came about.

“We don’t do a lot of traveling, but we do travel occasionally,” Steele said. “We sometimes have employees that sometimes have to make extra trips.”