Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

High pump prices prompt government conservation

You're not the only one cursing the gas pump these days -- local governments are scrambling to cover rising gasoline costs, too.

As civic leaders worry about budget shortfalls because of the rising gas prices, bureaucrats are being asked to carpool in their government cars and find other ways to increase the fuel efficiency of fleet vehicles.

"We only have so much (money) to work with, so if we go over in one area, we have to take it from another," said Metro Police budget director Janelle Kraft.

Various government agencies allot millions in their yearly budgets to gas up their fleet vehicles and are hoping gas costs peak soon, because, in the meantime, they're unsure of how to budget their money.

"Every time you look at the estimates, they've changed," said Rick Trumble, fleet manager of the North Las Vegas Public Works department.

"Right now, at this moment, we're figuring that we will be 5 percent over our gas budget," he said. "But every week, every day, it's been going on."

Metro Police, for example, likely will fall "a few hundred thousand dollars short" of the $3.1 million it budgeted for gas this fiscal year, which ends in July, Kraft said.

The department could cut back on non-essential supplies so it can continue to pay its $250,000-a-month gas bills, she said.

The Nevada Highway Patrol, which has 400 vehicles, is already about $100,000 short in its fiscal year gas budget. The department could use money from having 40 unfilled positions to help cover the rising gas costs.

The 800-vehicle state motor pool has between 100 and 120 vehicles that use propane, ethanol or natural gas, all cheaper fuels than gasoline. The state also has 10 Toyota Prius, which have gas-electric hybrid engines and get about 50 miles per gallon.

Keith Wells, head of the state motor pool, said the state is paying $2.28 a gallon for unleaded gas, but said the high prices are coming while the use of the state motor pool drops off.

"Hopefully, we can ride this out," Wells said. "We pray every day that the price will go down."

Perry Comeaux, state budget director, said he "has not heard any rumblings" about agencies being in big trouble because of rising fuel costs. But if prices keep going up, agencies will find it difficult to budget their money for the coming fiscal year.

That's partly because governments try to fatten up their gas budgets enough so they could endure most increases.

Ray Burke, an assistant director of the North Las Vegas Public Works Department, oversees the 460 vehicles the city owns.

"We always put in for that flexibility," he said. "Prices went to $2 (per gallon) last year, and we predicted that would happen again."

Still, Jim Barber, who has worked in the county's automotive division since 1993, said the gas prices are "as high a run-up as I've seen in the pricing structure that I can recall since I've been here."

Some governments buy their gas in bulk; others buy it at the pump with everyone else.

Henderson and Las Vegas make weekly bids on gasoline and then use in-house pumps to distribute the gas. That, along with the tax break governments get, has driven the price down.

At this point in the last fiscal year, Las Vegas paid an average of $1.34 a gallon. Now it's more like $1.65, and rising.

The city has three main fueling stations with another 13 fuel pumps at fire stations, said Dan Hyde, a fleet and transportation services manager with the city of Las Vegas.

These underground storage tanks are expensive to maintain and come with a slew of regulations and problems to deal with, such as controlling leaks and vapor releases.

"Here's the trade-off," Hyde said, "There is a cost to maintaining sites, but on balance we still pay less."

Other local governments opt for a simpler method.

They give employees cards they can use to fill up at approved stations. While the governments end up paying retail price, they don't have to pay all of the taxes and fees.

For example, if Metro Police officers purchase $2-a-gallon gas with their card, the agency only pays about $1.90 or so, said Sam Pisacreta, director of Metro's fleet services.

And the system helps agencies avoid having to maintain their own gas pumps and the related infrastructure.

Given the rising costs, governments are encouraging their employees to keep tires inflated and vehicles in tune, actions that improve vehicles' fuel efficiency.

Barber recently sent out an e-mail encouraging Clark County employees who use the county's vehicles to carpool, avoid idling and clean out trunks to hopefully lighten the load and increase fuel efficiency.

Trumble said North Las Vegas employees are combining trips in city vehicles, and "if there's a certain meeting we must attend, we've instituted that there needs to be four people in a vehicle."

But there's only so many cuts a government can make, Barber said.

"If you're distributing office supplies every day, maybe you can do that every other day," Barber said. "But if you have to go out and get kids from abusive parents, that has to be done every day. You can't cut out critical services like that."

Las Vegas, which already has one Honda Civic and 18 Toyota Prius hybrid vehicles, is hoping to get more soon.

"We're going to add to it if we can get it, but they're back-ordered," Hyde said.

While Clark County and Metro Police now contract with the same gas vendor to save money, several government leaders said they hope to find ways to purchase gas together in the future to save money.

"Since we purchase in bulk through an infrastructure that is owned and operated by the city, perhaps the city could take the lead with the other entities," Hyde said.

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