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County insulated from high fuel prices – for now
By SUZETTE PORTER
Article published on Tuesday, June 3, 2008 |
PINELLAS COUNTY – Fuel prices are creeping nearer to the $4 mark and motorists are feeling the pain day-by-day.
However, thus far, Pinellas County government isn’t hurting – thanks to buying in bulk under 90-day contracts.
Interim County Administrator Fred Marquis said Friday that the county was currently into about 60 days of its current contract.
“We’re insulated (from the increased cost of fuel) until the contracts expire in the next 30 days,” Marquis said.
As of May 30, the county was paying $3.76 a gallon for unleaded and $4.51 for diesel. Compared to the average price in Tampa Bay as reported by AAA’s Daily Fuel Gauge Report on the same date, the county is saving 13 cents a gallon for unleaded and 22 cents for diesel.
Marquis administers only the portion of the bulk contract fuel that is used by departments under his authority. Employees from those departments have 24 stations that they use to fill up county vehicles, plus smaller tankers are used to haul fuel to locations.
The departments within Marquis’ authority use about 1.5 million gallons of fuel a year. “Continued increases in fuel cost could make a drastic situation for us,” Marquis said. “And those increases spill over into every contract.”
In anticipation of fuel increases and the possibility of increases in electrical costs, Marquis said the county is adding to next year’s budget “fairly substantial amounts to its reserve for operations with a subset of budget amounts for fuel adjustments.”
He said the county expects a 4.2 percent increase in cost to do business over last year – and that’s “just the cost to open the doors without adding anything.”
Increasing costs and decreases in revenue are two major challenges the Board of County Commissioners is facing as it works on preparations for next year’s budget, which must be cut by at least $55 million dollars.
The next public recap of the proposed 2008-09 county budget is Thursday, June 12, 6:30 p.m. For more information on the budget, visit www.pinellascounty.org.
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Article published on Tuesday, June 3, 2008
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