The County Line
- Volume 52, Number 1 - 2008
"Pain at the pump" is hitting counties in the pocketbook.
If the experts are right, things will probably be worse by the time you read this. But, as I sit with my hands on the computer, the price of oil has soared above $140 per barrel.
Most everyone believes the price is headed even higher. Maybe things will have changed in the time between this writing and the printing of the magazine. One can hope.
Gas prices are going up every day. There isn’t a credible source who has predicted any change in that trend in the short term.
Certainly everyone is feeling the crunch in their personal checkbook – I know, most of us don’t actually have checkbooks any more, but you get the point. Restaurants, hotels, travel agents and others in the “entertainment” industry are bracing for a pretty hot-and-dry summer.
Many of the national retailers which are usually “open” around-the-clock are preparing to close their doors during the early morning hours. Small businesses are feeling the impact as well.
Just the other day, we stopped into a Montgomery restaurant at lunchtime expecting to find the usual line of hungry customers waiting for a table. When we arrived, the parking lot was almost empty, and we were able to have our pick of seat at a time when we’d normally experienced a several-minute wait.
That scene is predicted to be more common in the coming days.
Most of these signs are easy to see and have been reported in the media time and again. But, the impact of the soaring gasoline tax prices on the county government is just as severe. In fact, the ability to deliver services on the local level depends on fuel, perhaps more directly that one might think at first blush.
The largest expenditure in county government is, of course, law enforcement. And, among the largest expenditures for law enforcement is the cost of keeping deputies on the road.
Think about it, in most counties the cruisers are on the road around-the-clock. And that’s expensive – and getting more expensive by the day. To illustrate, let’s use some very conservative assumptions:
If a deputy’s car is on the road four hours of his or her eight-hour shift and averages 30 miles per hour, that car will be driven 120 miles per shift and 360 miles per day. Assuming the vehicle travels 15 miles on each gallon of gas and the average cost per gallon is $3.75 per gallon, the county will spend some $90 in gasoline per vehicle, per day. Since the vehicle is used seven days per week, the fuel costs will be $630 every week or a budget-busting $32,760 per year!
That price tag must be paid with no increase in tax revenue.
In the county road and bridge departments, the cost pressures caused by rising fuel costs are pushing from every angle. Obviously, the costs associated with the price of the fuel consumed by county road department equipment is a major problem. Most counties have already expended their total fuel budgets for the year; or will do so by Independence Day.
But, there are other issues to consider, according to the county engineers.
For example, Barbour County Engineer Patrick McDougald, CEA, said “the cost of oil impacts everything we do, not just the fuel we put in our equipment and vehicles.”
He pointed to the cost of asphalt, which is oil based and has soared in recent months. In addition, the cost of materials such as the stone used on county roads is also impacted by the fuel costs.
“The equipment used to mine the stone runs on diesel fuel. The equipment used to separate the stone runs on diesel fuel. And, the equipment used to haul the stone, of course, runs on diesel,” he explained. “We’re hit at every turn.”
Another engineer, Henry Hawkins of Chambers County, admits he is looking for resurfacing avenues that rely less on oil-based materials.
“We’re looking at resurfacing roads like they did the Farm-to-Market roads 50 years ago,” Hawkins said. “We can’t afford anything else.”
Most engineers chuckle when asked about being able to budget for a pay increase for their employees next year. Gas prices, of course, will likely gobble up those ideas.
In case that is not enough, one must remember the largest source of revenue for the county road and bridge department is a county’s share of the statewide gasoline tax.
As the price of gasoline goes up, consumption declines. As consumption declines, so does the revenue from the consumption-based tax. Like they said, the hits are coming from every angle.
Just the other day a supervisor of another county department reported some that really illustrates the impact the price of gasoline is having at the county level. She said one of her best employees, who was driving about 25 miles each way to work, resigned to take another job that paid about $1 dollar less each hour, but was only a couple of miles from her home.
“The price of gas cost us a very good employee, but I understand,” she said.
Who can blame the employee, or former employee, for reacting this way?
Since the county commission can’t resign and take another job closer to home, the real challenge is to determine the most effective response to what is beginning to be a very difficult – and expensive – problem.
|
