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Fuel prices hit Hooksett hard

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 20:02:00 GMT

BY JENN McDOWELL

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.”

Many struggle to pay last year’s fuel bills, worry about future

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 13:36:00 GMT

BY JENN McDOWELL

It’s going to be a lot harder for the Hills family of Allenstown to stay afloat financially this year, with fuel prices hitting record highs.

Jeanne Hills babysits her toddler grandson, staying home while her husband and her adult children work. With the price of heating oil averaging more than $4.50 a gallon, according to the state Department of Energy and Planning, the future looks frightening.

The Hills got a decent price last year, but ended up spending a total of $2,281 on their oil deliveries between September 2007 and their most recent in May 2008. This year, they are likely going to spend much more than that to heat their home.

Hill added that her mother, a 70-year-old retired woman on a fixed income, had so much trouble trying to pay for the oil heat bills on her mobile home in Derry that she had to move in with Hill’s sister.

“I used to buy 150 gallons (per delivery) and had to go down to 100 gallons,” said Hills. “It wasn’t fitting in our budget. Prior to that first September bill, I was paying $240 for 150 gallons, and now for 100 gallons it was almost as much,” Hills said, adding she made good use of her wood stove last winter and would continue that practice this winter.

Not a bad idea, and one David Pearl of Hooksett has more than bought into. Pearl, who runs “Spotlight Video” out of his Main Street home, has two years’ worth of wood sitting in his back yard in preparation of the heating crunch.

Pearl does use oil, but stocks up on the wood each year, buying it wholesale at about $1,200 for a gigantic truckload that equals about 12 cords, a two-year supply.

At first, said Pearl, his wife, Joanne, wasn’t crazy about the the huge amount of wood in their backyard. “This year, she’s kind of on board; that it’s definitely worth it,” said Pearl. “You’re going to have to have heat one way or the other.”

Local governments under stress
Hooksett Town Administrator David Jodoin said most of the town’s buildings run on gas heat, the price of which is also on the rise.

Still, with energy prices increasing along with gasoline, Jodoin said there are going to be many trickle-down effects from the national and state levels to the towns.

“We will be forced, like many towns, to postpone paving if things get too tough and look at hours of operation, and possibly even layoffs,” Jodoin said. “Projections are impossible right now. The market on fuel is fluctuating way too much. All we can do is, like everyone else, pray that things stabilize.”

To heat the old Town Hall and the highway garage for the 2007-08 year cost Hooksett $11,768.42 said Finance Director Christine Soucie.

The only building in Candia that runs on oil is the old library, not in regular use. The heat has to stay on the lowest setting there so the pipes don’t freeze, said selectmen’s assistant Dawn Chabot.

That building alone cost $1,401.47 to heat between January and December 2007.

“It’s probably going to be double, if not triple, this year,” said Selectmen Chairman Fred Kelley, adding his own home cost about $1,000 to heat during this past winter.

Pembroke and Allenstown use little heating oil, as they sit almost directly on top of a gas line. Natural gas prices are also increasing, according to the Department of Energy and Planning, but not at the rate of oil increases. The average cost for natural gas is around $1.70 per unit on the high end.

“The major gas line that runs to Concord runs through Pembroke between Route 3 and the (Suncook) river,” said Pembroke Town Administrator Geoff Ruggles, adding that skyrocketing oil prices will have only a small effect on Pembroke.

The only Pembroke building using oil is the Perry Eaton building, the old police station, which also houses the Sewer Department.

Most of the town is also on gas, Ruggles said, but some residences in older sections may be on oil heat.

It’s basically the same story in Allenstown, where the majority of buildings – including the town hall, police and fire stations and recreation center – are on the same gas line that runs through neighboring Pembroke.

“I’m sure the rate will increase just like everything else,” said Police Chief Shaun Mulholland, agreeing with Jodoin that gasoline is going to have the biggest impact on the town’s budget.

The highway garage in Allenstown is a little bit different. “We actually heat the highway garage with waste oil,” said Selectman Tom Gilligan. “We have a waste oil burner that we put in years ago, and we continue to maintain and upgrade it. We also have a propane tank as a backup at the highway garage,” he said.

Epsom selectmen’s assistant Nancy Wheeler said the current town office building, the old Town Hall, and both the fire and police departments run on oil heat. The highway shed is the only town building that uses propane.

In 2007, she said, Epsom spent $13,738 on heating oil, coming within $150 of what they had budgeted for that year. Selectmen budgeted $15,475 for 2008 in anticipation of the historic meeting house, which was moved next to the old Town Hall, is completely renovated and becomes involved in the oil heat budget this year.

So far, the town has spent $8,188 of their 2008 heating oil budget line, with about three more months left to go between October and December.

Wheeler added the town was able to lock in a good rate at $2.34 per gallon, but will have to go out to bid again sometime in the next month. “If it goes up a dollar a gallon, based on what we used the second half of the year, we should be okay, but who knows?” said Wheeler.

Auburn Town Administrator Bill Herman said town is trying to juggle the rising costs of heating fuel, gas, and asphalt, and said those increases have exceeded their budget projections.

The Board of Selectmen is looking at installing a new, more energy efficient heating system in the town hall this year to help to defray some of the increase in oil heat costs down the road.

“Depending on the account, increases of 10 to 27.5 percent were included in the 2008 operating budget for anticipated fuel increases. It appears at this point those increases may not be enough to cover the expenses of heating the town buildings this year,” Herman said.

All town buildings except for the highway garage run on oil heat, he said, and rising heating fuel costs caused the budgets for both the police department and general government buildings, including the Town Hall, highway garage, and old police and fire stations, to run over budget in 2007-08.

So far in 2008, according to Herman, those accounts are getting close to their budgeted amounts, with at least three months left to heat on this year’s budget.