Mar. 17—Gas prices are going up, and Cumberland County is feeling the pinch.
"We're still what we budgeted for the fiscal year; however, the last load of diesel we got in February exceeded our $3 per gallon [budget]," Jennifer Turner, deputy finance director, told the budget committee of the Cumberland County Commission during its March 8 meeting.
"I anticipate the first bill that we see on the last load we ordered will exceed both diesel and gasoline."
The county used an average cost of $2.75 per gallon for gasoline and $3 per gallon for diesel to budget for fuel costs in the 2021-'22 fiscal year. The average cost per gallon through February was $2.50 for diesel fuel and $2.35 for gasoline.
So far, the county has spent $535,015.93 on fuel.
Finance Director Nathan Brock said, "We're hoping lower prices earlier in the year will offset that."
"Do not be surprised if you see some budget amendments to do some clean-up for some departments before the end of the year," Turner told the panel.
AAA reported earlier this week gas prices rose 24 cents the week before, setting a new record-high average price of $4.13 per gallon for gasoline. That's up 85 cents a gallon from a month before and $1.44 more per gallon than one year ago.
According to AAA, the price of crude oil was above $123 per barrel following the Russian invasion of Ukraine but had fallen to below $110 per barrel at the time of the report March 14. However, the market remains volatile, the organization cautioned.
Higher prices are also impacting vehicle purchases.
The budget committee approved a $65,916 budget amendment for the solid waste department, with $26,916 to go toward the purchase of a roll-off truck.
"Our truck bid came in 15% higher at roughly $202,000," Solid Waste Director Conrad Welch told the committee.
The county's Finance Committee approved a bid from Worldwide Equipment of Knoxville for a new Mack truck for $201,916, contingent on approval of the budget amendment by the full commission when it meets March 21.
The additional funds will come from the department's fund balance. Welch said there is a 320-day minimum wait for delivery of the new truck.
Welch said the price of containers has also increased significantly this year that he has decided to delay additional purchases.
"We did buy some, but we've got approximately $39,000," he said.
He asked to transfer that money to the other supplies and materials line of the budget for repairs to trucks and equipment.
"The price of equipment and repairs has gone up so much that we're broke," Welch said of the department's repair budget.