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People in the private sector may choose how much they drive, but people who serve the public don’t necessarily have that choice.
And the lack of an option can be expensive.  Bryant Police Officer Nick Ramsey looks at the continuing rise of fuel prices as he pumps gasoline at the MaxMart in Bryant. Agencies and school districts throughout Saline County are concerned about staying within budget constraints because of the costs of fuel. (Courier photo by Matt Burks)
Record high fuel costs are taking a toll on local school districts and emergency services agencies in Saline County, official say.
School districts can’t stop running bus routes and emergency personnel can’t stop responding to emergencies and other calls. But, school districts and agencies are exploring ways to reduce gas mileage as much as possible and at the same time find money to increase fuel budgets.
The average price of diesel fuel in Arkansas is nearly $5 a gallon, according to the American Automobile Assoc-iation. The price is nearly $2 higher than this time last year.
The average price of unleaded gasoline is $3.83, up from $3.11 a year ago.
“In July 2006, we were paying $1.92 for regular unleaded and $2.14 for diesel fuel,” Tom Farmer, transportation director for the Bryant School District, said. “This year, for May, we are paying $3.21 for regular unleaded and $3.90 for diesel.”
Farmer said that this year, the school district has spent $16,700 for unleaded gasoline and $66,000 for diesel for a total of $240,000. Last year, he said, the district spent around $155,000.
“We have used a little more gas this year,” Farmer said, “but that is a $100,000 increase and it is only going to get worse if the price of gas keeps going up.”
Farmer said that despite the spike in fuel costs, the school is committed to getting students to school safely and on time. He also said the transportation department is not the only department hurting from the rise of gas prices.
“Everything is impacted by the gas price increase,” Farmer said.
“Food price is increased in the cafeteria, it costs more to mow the lawns and we could even see more and more students riding the bus. If that happens, we could have to run more buses and that means even hiring more drivers.”
Matt Brumley, director of Saline Memorial Hospital’s ambulance service, said the agency’s fuel budget is more than 32 percent higher this fiscal year, which ends this month.
“As of end of April, we spent over $66,500 in diesel,” Brumley said, adding that he projects the department will have spent close to $80,000 by the end of this fiscal year in 30 more days.
By purchasing diesel in bulk, Brumley said the agency spent $4.36 a gallon for the last “drop” of 2,100 gallons.
Trying to predict what diesel prices will cost is difficult, said Brumley, who also is president of the Benton Area Chamber of Commerce.
In 2007, “we were 1.6 percent over budget. This year, we expect to be nearly 40 percent over budget,” he said.
Unlike businesses that have options when fuel prices rise, “we don’t have the option to raise prices or compromise quality. If someone calls, no matter the fuel prices, we’re required to give the same quality treatment,” Brumley said.
Brumley noted that summer is a busy time for ambulance service — and prices don’t seem to be going down anytime soon.
“It’s a wicked equation,” he said. “This is the most expensive time for us as it relates to calls and fuel.”
The department has six ambulances and responds to about 25 calls a day. One thing the ambulance service can do is monitor idle times.
“Before going some place, we can think about how long we’ll be there, and if it’s any length of time, we’re turning those engines off,” Brumley said, noting that diesel engines perform better when they’re not turned off an on.
The crunch won’t be felt as badly for school districts this time of year with school being out for the summer. But fuel costs remain at the forefront.
“Thank goodness school is over with transporting when prices are really starting to jump up,” Allan Yearry, transportation director for the Benton School District, said.
“It affects us just like anybody else, but we’re not going to shut down service because of costs.”
He said he expects the fuel budget to be increased by about 25 percent for the 2008-09 school year.
“A good rule of thumb over the past couple of years is to keep going up,” Yearry said.
“We budgeted a little more this year, and we may have gone over a little but we’re gonna continue getting kids to school and back and forth to basketball, football and baseball games.”
According to the Benton School District, the fuel budget for the 2007-2008 school year is $114,305. As of May 5, the district had spent $93,371.
By comparison, the district spent $93,826 from June 1, 2005, to June 30, 2006, and $95,224 from July 1, 2006, to June 30, 2007.
As of May 2005, the district has spent nearly the total of the fuel cost in 2005-06 school year and it appears the district will be near the budget total for 2008.
“I want to say that it was skill with the budget, but I think it was just luck with us making it so high” Benton School Board member Sam Stueart said.
“It has increased significantly this year. In two years, we could have an increase of about $20,000, which from the 2005-06 school year to the 2006-207 school year it was only an increase of $1,39 ... that is pretty significant.”
Yearry said the district will start looking at cutting back if necessary.
The district buys fuel in bulk and stores it at the transportation office on Market Street.
“We try to buy all we can before it goes up,” Yearry said.
He said the district was paying around $3.59 per gallon for diesel in March.
For field trips, Yearry said the school or group planning the trip pays for transportation costs.
Bauxite School District is looking at limiting field trips because of high fuel prices, with Superintendent Mickey Billingsley noting that the district “will probably have to double what we spend on fuel.”
He said field trips will be limited to nearby destinations.
Even this past year, Billingsley said the staff has “done an excellent job keeping field trips close.”
“We’re still planning on running buses, but we’ll be as frugal as we can,” he said.
For athletic events, Billingsley said coaches and other staff have done a good job of carpooling and filling each bus used. “We make sure we don’t spend a half-empty bus anywhere,” he said.
Local law enforcement agencies are feeling the pinch of fuel prices. In fact, some departments are making dramatic changes.
“You have to be creative when fuel prices increase like it has,” Saline County Sheriff Phil Mask said. “You try to cut down on the amount of millage the department uses, but still provide services.”
Mask said that to help cut down on fuel costs, his department has a limit of 150 miles per day per vehicle.
“If we go over, nobody will get in trouble in the department,” Mask said.
“It isn’t set in stone, but we ask them to watch their mileage. For instance, if a report can be made over the phone, then I want them to do that, but obviously there are somethings that we still have to go to. We are just trying to be cautious of our spent and try to set some mileage restrictions.”
Mask said that in May, the department spent around $21,000 in fuel, compared to normal costs of $12,000 to $15,000.
He said the department will soon have a new fleet of vehicles that will get better gas mileage.
“We are getting 20 new patrol cars that are all six-cylinder vehicles,” Mask said. “Right now, we have eight-cylinder vehicles, so these new vehicles should help us decrease the cost of fuel.”
Bryant Police Chief Tony Coffman said that despite the high cost of fuel, the department will not cut back on the number of officers on patrol.
“They are the backbone of the department,” Coffman said of patrol officers.
“We’ll find the money somewhere for the patrol department. We may suffer in other areas, but I won’t cut back on patrol.”
Some smaller law enforcement agencies are pondering how to significantly reduce their budgets, and that has at least one police chief parking vehicles and restructuring shifts.
“The first thing we did was change our administration shifts from eight hours, five days a week to four days at 10 hours,” Shannon Hills Police Chief Richard Friend said.
“I also just went online to purchase two used vehicles that both get tremendously better gas mileage than a few of our vehicles, including our four-wheel drive Expedition.”
Friend said the department has purchased a small pickup and a small Mazda sedan from the military police. He said the vehicles are being purchased from the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service, which is a government surplus.
In the meantime, Friend said the department will park the Expedition and only use it when it is needed.
Both Friend and Mask said that one way their departments are cutting fuel costs is by having officers double up in patrol vehicles.
“If we have any kind of special events or training exercises, we have as many ride together as possible” Friend said. “We have saved about $350 to $400 a month since we started doubling up.”
Another way that law-enforcement, ambulance services and school districts say they are saving money is by maintenance their vehicles regularly.
“Maintenance on the vehicles helps improve gas millage,” Mask said. “We keep a check on everything from tire pressure to regular oil changes and engine maintenance. All of those things will help.”
Friend said he is hoping that either gas prices will decrease or the department finds other creative ways to stay within budget.
“I feel sorry for everyone,” Friend said. “I think everyone is hurting because of fuel prices and it doesn’t look like it is going to get any better.”
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