Oregon city workers have used 63% of the fuel money budgeted for the year, putting the city on pace to stay within its roughly $500,000 allocation. With fuel prices rising nationwide, the city of Toledo has asked for an additional $1.4 million to keep its vehicles running, but Oregon officials said they do not expect to exceed their budget or request more.
Oregon police account for the biggest share of fuel use, followed by the streets department, which works on projects across the city.
“We run all over the city for all types of repairs. We utilize a lot of gasoline and diesel here,” said Oregon Streets Superintendent Keith Henninger.
Henninger said the department typically takes delivery of 1,400 gallons of diesel and around 800 gallons of gas per month.
“We actually try to have them fuel up daily to keep our equipment topped off. That’s not an empty tank every day. Some vehicles, like a street sweeper, you’ll go through just about a tank of fuel every day,” Henninger said.
Henninger said the sweeper takes 30 to 35 gallons of fuel. The department fills up 10 to 15 trucks out on the road daily, along with other equipment.
The city runs its own fueling facility.
“We have our own fueling facility here. So, we don’t go to a gas station. We purchase fuel off the rack and have it delivered. You don’t have the daily swings that you normally see out at the gas stations around the areas,” Henninger said.
According to Oregon’s finance director, the city budgeted nearly $500,000 for fuel this year. In the past nine months, $325,000 of that has been used.
Henninger said the amount of fuel being used is about the same as last year. The difference is the price. He said crews make a conscious effort to be efficient.
“Shut off the vehicles when they’re not in operation. That’s one of the key things. If you’re not utilizing it, shut it off. But at the end of the day, most of our vehicles, you know, they have to run to operate,” Henninger said.
Henninger said even if the city had to be stricter on usage, there is no plan for how crews could limit it further.
