GARY | Mayor Rudy Clay said Friday he and high-ranking members of his administration will begin paying for their own gasoline.

He said the austerity measure is needed to reduce the city's fuel bill, which approaches $30,000 per week, and to disarm critics who complain of the city-owned Hummer H3 in which he regularly travels.

Clay said Friday he will keep that car, which gets between 13 and 19 miles per gallon. "The bottom line is I'm now paying for the gas myself, so what's the problem? The problem is the name Hummer," he said. "If you take that Hummer out and put Ford in there no one would mention it. The former mayor had a $45,000 (Ford) Expedition, which was a gas guzzler.

"The car I have now cost $26,000, it burns less gas than almost any SUV on the road, and I'm paying for the gas," Clay said.

Charles "Chuck" Hughes, president of the Gary Chamber of Commerce and a former city councilman, said Friday, "I think it's a good move and shows leadership. I hope leadership will be exhibited by all the others."

Clay said he is faced with a number of budget cuts mandated by property tax reductions in House Bill 1001. It caps individual homeowners' tax bills at 2 percent of the home's assessed value. The result will be a $36.7 million shortfall in tax revenue in 2009.

Clay said, "I must lead by example."

He said he also is mandating his Cabinet members, department leaders, supervisors, foremen and staff who have take-home cars to do the same and is asking other city elected officials to follow suit.

"We are still reviewing the take-home cars for police and many of those will now be parked."

He said he won't require police or fire personnel to pay the fuel bills for take-home cars used "for emergency situations."