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Hit by high fuel costs, county looks to conserve
Like money-pinched residents altering their driving habits to combat $4-a-gallon gas, Loudoun County government is making changes to save money at the pump.Diane O'Grady, with the Office of the County Administrator, said the county has launched fuel-saving measures, including encouraging workers to share vehicles and ordering 25 more gas-efficient hybrid cars. The county's hybrid fleet now stands at 16.
Also, new specialized bulldozers recently were put to work in the county landfill. O'Grady said they will save Loudoun 2,000 gallons of fuel each year.
Meanwhile, the school system -- which will spend $5 million to put diesel in its 740 vehicles this year -- may bus fewer students in the future by expanding the walking zones around its schools. It's also streamlining bus routes and asking drivers to reduce idling time, officials said.
The rest of Loudoun's government – including the Sheriff's Office, Parks and Recreation, and Fire and Rescue, among others -- also is adjusting. The county spent $1.9 million on fuel in the first six months of this year, $700,000 more than the same span in 2007, according to the Department of General Services.
Despite the upswing, county officials are not worried -- yet.
"The county budget is big enough to absorb it," said Loudoun Budget Manager Ari Sky, on the county's latest $1.6 billion spending plan, which does account for the $700,000 increase in fuel spending.
He explained, "Something really big would have to happen for the county to be hurt," such as the county spending $1 million or more above what it had earmarked for fuel, he said. "Then departments would have to cut back elsewhere."
To save fuel, Claire Smith, spokeswoman for the Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Services, said workers there have been told to share vehicles. They also were asked to fill up their vehicles in the mornings, when some think you get more gas for your money because it has yet to expand as temperatures rise during the day.
Laura Rizer, spokeswoman for the Department of Animal Care and Control, said that the department recently turned to other agencies to reduce its workers' time behind the wheel.
Animal control officers are now allowed to park their trucks at other county-owned facilities so they don't have to drive them back to the shelter in Waterford to drop them off after their shifts end.
"We're trying to conserve as much as we can," she said.
Contact the reporter at jjacks@timespapers.com
All these conservation measures are great, but...why were they not Standard Operating Procedure previously? This is basically admitting that wasteful, less efficient means were common practice, spending and wasting County tax dollars as a matter of course. THIS should be the story! How many times do you see a police car sitting somewhere, sometimes w/ the officer out of the car, and that big V-8 idling away? I mean, why?? Why do conservation measures only make sense when gas is $4/gal.? Perhaps if we all conserved when gas was $1/gal., supply today would be greater, and it would not be $4. Meaning, let's be PRO-active, not just RE-active. And County Govt. should be setting the tone.
Posted by xyz123
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When the county employees drive their county issued vehicles to the parking lot across from the Exeter Community Pool to take their naps between 9am and 3pm maybe they could turn off the car and roll down the windows rather than idle with the A/C on.
LoCo could also save some money by selling the fleet of excess vehicles they pay to inspect, tax and maintain that rots in the parking lot by the WalMart. Maybe they could siphon the old gas out of those cars. Some of those cars have been sitting there since gas was $.99 a gallon!
LoCo stop wasting our money. We all see it now as things have gotten tighter for the residents. Party time is over.
Posted by SomeGuy
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