City spent $206,804 on vehicle fuel in 2011

Talk about it

While they didn’t comment on the amount of money spent, Hudson City Council members were pleased to get a report on fuel usage by city vehicles at their Jan. 23 meeting.

The update on a fuel monitoring system installed at the Public Works garage was provided by Finance Officer Neil Soltis.

Since the City Council meeting, Soltis has revised the numbers to show the precise amount the city paid for gasoline and diesel fuel that went into city vehicles in 2011. The total was $206,804, he said.

The city contracted with Consolidated Energy Co-op of Ellsworth and Burkhardt to provide the fuel at 4 cents above the wholesale price on the day of the delivery. It was delivered to the city garage, where all city vehicles refuel.

“It provides more accurate accounting in terms of fuel usage both by individuals and departments, and it is a tool to track fuel usage and fuel efficiency by vehicle,” Soltis said in a phone call Tuesday.

He said it was his understanding that the City Council wanted to get a better understanding of how vehicle fuel is being used.

In the long run, the system could help the city reduce fuel costs, Soltis said.

He said it can track vehicle fuel efficiency, if used correctly, which could lead to the purchase of more fuel-efficient vehicles in the future.

He said purchase decisions could be based on a vehicle’s “whole life-cycle cost,” instead of just the bid price.

Soltis uses the system to charge fuel costs to the various city departments each month.

The police department used the most vehicle fuel last year, 23,093 gallons, followed closely by public works at 22,022 gallons.

Fuel usage for parks was separated from public works for purposes of the report, even though they are in the same department. Park fuel use was 1,251 gallons.

St. Croix EMS used 7,498 gallons of fuel, the water department, 5,821 gallons, and the sewer department, 2,164.

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