|
|||||||||||||
Printer-Friendly
Email this Story
Post a Comment (0)
County copes with gas crunch
Police Maj. Larry Moser has spent the last several weeks making a video about conserving fuel for fellow police officers to watch.It will include tips like idling less and other initiatives the Fairfax County Police Department is taking to lower its soaring fuel bill.
“We want to involve them in the process and let them know want we're doing behind the scenes to lower fuel costs,” Moser, commander of the department's technical services bureau, said.
The police department is not alone.
All of the county's departments are taking initiatives to cope with soaring fuel prices, according to Jim Gorby, director of the Department of Vehicle Services.
Funds for running county vehicles come from Vehicle Services, which purchases untaxed fuel at $3.50 a gallon for gasoline and $4 for diesel.
Susan Datta, budget director for Fairfax County, said the $41 million the county budgeted to send vehicle services during fiscal 2009 will probably need to increase. The county's fuel budget has grown dramatically from $15 million in fiscal 2005 and $20 million in fiscal 2007, she said.
Fairfax County Public Schools exceeded its $9.2 million budget for fiscal year 2008 by about $1.3 million, said Linda Farbry, director of transportation services.
The county's police department had a budget of $2.8 million for fiscal year 2008. Eleven months into the year, they had already spent $3.3 million, spokeswoman Mary Ann Jennings said, adding that the police department started actively looking at ways to offset fuel costs a couple of weeks ago.
“There will probably have to be more money for county fuel, the way things are going,” Gorby said. “Right now each department is trying to squeeze as best they can.”
Riders of the Fairfax Connector – a fleet of about 200 buses operated by Fairfax County – may notice fewer bus stops and less idling by drivers in the future. Connector staff are considering the changes as they work with their contract company, Veolia Transportation, to formulate a strategy to reduce their use of fuel, Rollo Axton, county transit chief, said.
Axton said “it's too early to tell” how much the higher fuel costs have affected Connector operations. Ironically, though, as ridership increases with pump prices, it takes more diesel to run the buses, he said.
The school system – with about 1,600 buses in its fleet – purchased 176 GPS units at about $900 a pop that can record how much their buses are idling.
They needed some way to mandate minimal idling, according to Farbry. “We've told bus drivers they can't idle any more than five minuets unless it is necessary for the health and well-being of a special-needs child,” she said.
County police don't plan to get rid of their street-proven Ford Crown Victorias, but they are looking for opportunities to get more hybrid vehicles. They may give some investigators and administrators who spend less time on the streets more fuel-efficient hybrids and mid-sized sedans, Jennings said.
Running public service vehicles more efficiently is more complicated than it sounds because of all the safety equipment involved, Moser said.
Normally, county agencies are required to absorb additional fuel costs. But after a grueling budget process last spring – one that left the schools with about $24 million less than the school board asked for and the county's salary budget trimmed – absorbing fuel costs may be difficult for many individual agencies.
“The flexibility that they have now is very limited,” Datta said.
“The money is burning up somewhere, but we have to run these vehicles to support the mission of the county,” Gorby said.
“We just have to respond,” said Dan Schmidt, a spokesman for the county's Fire and Rescue Department.
Schmidt said the department is doing what other major departments in the county are doing, checking tire pressure and trying to eliminate idling. But there is only so much they can do, Schmidt said.
“We are going to keep running our school buses and do whatever we need to do with them,” Farbry said. “If we use more fuel, then the school system will pay for that even though they decide to limit the programs we serve.”
The county's budget staff will likely ask the Board of Supervisors to consider an increase in the fuel budget in August, during their budget review between fiscal years, Datta said.
You must be logged in to post a comment.