Local officials adjust budgets as prices rise
Jason Jewell
With gas prices at record levels and predictions of even higher costs, Mustang school and city officials are making adjustments to their budgets to reflect the increased costs.
In Mustang, gas prices average about $2.50 per gallon, with some speculating that prices could approach $2.60 per gallon in the coming weeks. Prices are nearly 25 cents higher than they were a month ago, and nearly a dollar more than this time last year.
School district officials predict to spend between $40,000 and $90,000 more in the 2005-06 academic year, which begins Aug. 24.
“We always operate with a conservative fiscal posture,” said district spokesperson Shannon Rigsby. “The carryover (more than 9 percent or $3.2 million last year) not only allows us to operate during the summer, but also makes it possible to handle issues like a spike in gas prices.”
The Mustang school district has allocated $200,000 for gasoline and diesel, she said.
“We wouldn’t be surprised to see gas and diesel cost the district $210,000,” Rigsby said.
In 2004-05, Mustang spent about $159,000 on fuel for buses, vans and other vehicles, which included a sharp price increase in the latter half of the school year, Rigsby said. The district spent just about $110,000 on fuel in the 2003-04 school year, she said.
“Everything that is transported is impacted by the rising cost of gas prices,” Rigsby said.
With higher gas prices, school officials also expect an increase in electricity and natural gas bills in the 2005-06 year.
As ad valorem tax receipts have increased, the district has been able to add about $150,000 to the building fund, Rigsby said.
“This is allowing us to shift some of the electric and natural gas bills to the building fund,” she said. “This allows more flexibility in the operations account.”
Since the city’s fiscal year began nearly two months ago, City Manager David Cockrell said his office already figured higher gas prices in the budget.
“We had already anticipated higher gas prices” for this year’s budget cycle, Cockrell said.
If gas prices continue to rise, city officials could be forced to amend this year’s budget to allocate more money for fuel expenses. But for now, Cockrell said, the city is taking a “wait and see” approach in dealing with the price increases.
“We’ve really just started our year, so we have time to see where prices are going to go,” Cockrell said. “Our department heads have done a good job in taking an initiative to reduce expenses in some areas to help compensate (for fuel increases).”
The city’s fiscal year runs from July 1 to June 30, 2006.
Jason Jewell
With gas prices at record levels and predictions of even higher costs, Mustang school and city officials are making adjustments to their budgets to reflect the increased costs.
In Mustang, gas prices average about $2.50 per gallon, with some speculating that prices could approach $2.60 per gallon in the coming weeks. Prices are nearly 25 cents higher than they were a month ago, and nearly a dollar more than this time last year.
School district officials predict to spend between $40,000 and $90,000 more in the 2005-06 academic year, which begins Aug. 24.
“We always operate with a conservative fiscal posture,” said district spokesperson Shannon Rigsby. “The carryover (more than 9 percent or $3.2 million last year) not only allows us to operate during the summer, but also makes it possible to handle issues like a spike in gas prices.”
The Mustang school district has allocated $200,000 for gasoline and diesel, she said.
“We wouldn’t be surprised to see gas and diesel cost the district $210,000,” Rigsby said.
In 2004-05, Mustang spent about $159,000 on fuel for buses, vans and other vehicles, which included a sharp price increase in the latter half of the school year, Rigsby said. The district spent just about $110,000 on fuel in the 2003-04 school year, she said.
“Everything that is transported is impacted by the rising cost of gas prices,” Rigsby said.
With higher gas prices, school officials also expect an increase in electricity and natural gas bills in the 2005-06 year.
As ad valorem tax receipts have increased, the district has been able to add about $150,000 to the building fund, Rigsby said.
“This is allowing us to shift some of the electric and natural gas bills to the building fund,” she said. “This allows more flexibility in the operations account.”
Since the city’s fiscal year began nearly two months ago, City Manager David Cockrell said his office already figured higher gas prices in the budget.
“We had already anticipated higher gas prices” for this year’s budget cycle, Cockrell said.
If gas prices continue to rise, city officials could be forced to amend this year’s budget to allocate more money for fuel expenses. But for now, Cockrell said, the city is taking a “wait and see” approach in dealing with the price increases.
“We’ve really just started our year, so we have time to see where prices are going to go,” Cockrell said. “Our department heads have done a good job in taking an initiative to reduce expenses in some areas to help compensate (for fuel increases).”
The city’s fiscal year runs from July 1 to June 30, 2006.
0 comments
post a comment