As gas prices rise, City of Dayton says it may need to rethink their budget

DAYTON — If gas prices keep going up, the City of Dayton says it may need to rethink their budget.

The city spent roughly two-million dollars on fuel for its fleet last year, so they figured the same amount would suffice for 2022, but they may now be wrong.

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City officials did not expect gas prices to nearly double within five months.

“In the City of Dayton, we probably operate I would say anywhere from probably 900 to 1,000 vehicles,” said Dayton Public Works Director, Fred Stovall.

On average, this uses roughly 400-thousand gallons of fuel each year.

Stovall does not know how much the city has spent so far on gas but says the city is still operating within the parameters for 2022.

“Again, nobody knows what’s going to happen, so depending on how long these prices stay where they are, or keep growing, is going to be the bigger challenge,” Stovall said.

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There is no way to cut costs, so they’re biting the bullet.

“We still have to pickup your trash everyday, we still got to fix water main breaks everyday, patch potholes everyday,” Stovall said.

Some of the vehicles in the city’s fleet include street maintenance equipment, police cruisers, fire trucks and garbage trucks.

“So we have a gambit of large equipment that sucks up a lot of fuel,” Stovall said.

Stovall says the solution right now is to watch the prices and possibly factor them in come August when they begin working on the 2023 budget.

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