Several government entities in the Lakes Region are looking ahead to handling higher fuel prices.

Jason Wert spoke with several area leaders about handling the higher prices. His article from the Branson Tri-Lakes News is below:

The recent spike in fuel prices is causing concern for many municipalities. Police departments, fire departments, public works, and other government agencies require consistent use of fuel and often have fuel as a line item in their yearly budget.

While many municipalities across the country have announced struggles with this, many Ozarks community leaders have said they are in a better-than-average position to deal with the increases because of planning and reserves.

Hollister City Administrator Rick Ziegenfuss told Branson Tri-Lakes News because their budget year starts on April 1, they have been able to determine where last year’s fuel budget would end, allowing them to prepare for a higher level in the next budget.

“We found we had remaining funds left in the fuel lines of most department’s last year’s budget, which means we will only have to increase next year’s budget by 8% to cover the projected increase in fuel prices,” Ziegenfuss said. 

He said his employees are also trained to take steps to minimize fuel consumption among city vehicles and equipment. Staff are trained to turn off vehicles and equipment rather than leaving them idle. (Other local communities, such as Branson, also have a “no idle” policy.)

The city also focuses on purchasing or leasing vehicles which are more fuel efficient compared to the older models which are being replaced. They also make sure to use the right equipment for a task, so they are not using larger equipment (which uses higher amounts of fuel) than is needed for each job.

Still, Ziegenfuss said the city is facing the same challenges as everyone else.

“Like all other personal and organizational budgets, the city is impacted by raising fuel prices and hyper-inflation in all areas of operations,” he said. “We try our best to be good stewards of public funds and scarce resources.”

Taney County Auditor David Clark told the Branson Tri-Lakes News fuel cost concerns were a focus point of the Taney County Commission during budget discussions at the end of 2021. The commissioners were looking ahead at possible increases and adjusted the budgets in the county to take a potential fuel cost increase into account. They also revised the county’s mileage allowance for employees to match the State of Missouri.

Some individual county departments will still take a hit. Taney County Sheriff Brad Daniels told the Branson Tri-Lakes News in their case, they prepared the budget based on previous years, and  they will go over their budgeted fuel amount despite planning for an increase in costs.

“We didn’t foree this kind of jump,” Daniels said.

Darryl Coontz, Chief of the Taney County Ambulance District, said his team was ready for some of the increases in fuel costs because of similar situations which happen with other items vital for their operations.

“We can also see large swings in cost for medical equipment and medication,” Coontz told Branson Tri-Lakes News. “So we have been able to maintain a high cash reserve and we’ve been able to absorb the cost without a lot of budget issues yet.”

Coontz also said they are seeing an increase in calls which in turn results in increased revenue and increased reimbursements from Medicare and insurance companies. Also, TCAD is funded partially through sales taxes, and the record sales tax revenue in 2021 has carried over into the first few months of 2022, leaving TCAD in a strong income position.

All of those interviewed for this story agreed fuel costs will continue to be a concern and they will be looking for ways to minimize the impact the increased fuel costs have so they spend tax dollars in a wise manner.