Hooksett department heads are going to have a tough time staying within their fuel budgets in the coming year given the default budget they got in March.

With both gasoline and diesel fuel topping $4 a gallon right now, fire, police and highway departments are going to have to spend almost double what their fuel budgets will allow for 2008-09.

The current budget number for gasoline assumes a price of about $2.60 per gallon, far less than what the current purchase price is.

“The numbers are much higher than what we have budgeted,” said Hooksett Town Administrator David Jodoin. “Everyone is going to have to monitor their budget accordingly.”

The Town Council recently voted to take $82,000 in funds raised through taxes in the 2007- 08 budget year and apply them towards the gas contract for the 2008-09 year rather than using them to offset the tax rate, said Finance Director Christine Soucie, adding that there would be additional funds from other revenue sources to offset the 2008- 09 rate. Towns are permitted to do that under New Hampshire law only to pay for contractual obligations, she said.

“We could only get them to guarantee the fuel, not a price. The market is too volatile. All we could get them to lock in was the delivery fees. No one would lock in (to a set price),” Jodoin said.

The encumbered funds are not going to come close to covering all the anticipated budget overages from fuel costs, however. “I’m looking at being about $200,000 in the hole before I get going,” said Dale Hemeon, head of the Highway Department, adding he’s already had a conversation with his employees warning them about the very real possibility of layoffs. Hooksett Highway Department vehicles run primarily on diesel, which is selling at a higher price than regular gasoline right now.

Hemeon said his fuel line for 2008-09 is $50,000, and he’s anticipating having to spend more than $200,000 in the coming year if the department uses about the same amount of fuel it did last year, about 40,000 gallons.

Hemeon said he’s been trying to put more workers in the same vehicles to cut down on driving, but pointed out the dump trucks at the department only get about 4 miles to the gallon.

“I’m not going to be able to do any paving at all. I may not be able to pay for fireworks for Old Home Day,” Hemeon, also the Parks and Recreation director, said.

The Police Department is anticipating using about 30,000 gallons of gasoline to run its cruisers in the coming year. Police Chief Stephen Agrafiotis said he’s still worried about this year’s budget numbers, which have yet to be finalized, and predicts the police department will have gone about $30,000 over budget because of fuel this year.

“If it gets any worse, we may very well have to look at eliminating positions,” Agrafiotis said, adding the department just came up to state and national standards for a town with Hooksett’s size and population by having 29 positions filled.

With the town’s growth, it gets harder every year to maintain services without expanding patrols.

The department has tried to save on gas in other ways, he said, such as stretching the time between oil changes for the cruisers and switching to synthetic oil; cutting back on training and overtime; and constantly maintaining the optimum air pressure in cruiser tires.

“The whole goal is to keep a reasonable level of service,” said Agrafiotis. “If the citizens don’t or can’t pay for certain levels, we’ve given it the best bang for our buck we can.”

Fire Chief Michael Williams was not available for comment by press time, but Assistant Fire Chief Dean Jore said the department is struggling with diesel costs, and there are not many ways for the department to save on fuel when an engine has to respond to most calls.

The department has done things such as using their smaller vehicles as much as possible, particularly for less important calls, including trouble alarms indicating a low battery in someone’s fire alarm control panel, as well as condensing errands. “It’s tough because all we can really do is say, ‘Guys, stay in the station,’” Jore said. “There wasn’t a whole lot that we could change that we haven’t already tried to address.”

Town Council Chairman Paul Loiselle said being stuck with last year’s energy budget lines will have a trickle-down effect to other areas of the town’s budget, and said there is no latitude in the budget to cover shortfalls.

“It’s going to be a tough year from the overall picture of the finances of the town. You have to deal with the neccessary things first, and the things you need versus the things you want,” said Loiselle. “The largest part of any town budget is salaries, when you get right down to it. Hopefully, it won’t come to fruition, but if it does, there’s going to be some very hard decisions made by the council.”