WILLIAMSON COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) — Gas prices have climbed to a new record high in Central Texas.
According to AAA, the average price per gallon hovers around $4.56.
As these costs continue to climb, pain at the pump is putting pressure on first responders in Williamson County, which may mean taking more taxpayer dollars to keep pace at the pump.
“The level of inflation is so exponential, it’s just off the charts,” Williamson County Judge Bill Gravell said.
Less than halfway into the year, Williamson County Precinct Four Constable Paul Leal is already out of gas money for his fleet.
“It’s just disturbing because the fear is it’s going to get worse,” he said. “My approved budget for this year was $39,000 in fuel, we ran out of that probably two weeks ago.”
As a result, Leal will be asking for an additional $40,000 from the county for his fleet of 10 vehicles.
Gravell is a member of the Williamson County Commissioners Court.
“The one area I’m not willing to compromise and cut is our law enforcement response and our EMS units response,” he said.
According to the Precinct 4 Constable, this means moving money away from additional training for their officers.
“We will cut or curtail in other areas to make sure that our residents are taken care of,” Gravell said.
“It’s just discouraging knowing that money could be utilized somewhere else,” Leal added. “In such a better way than putting it in a fuel tank.”
KXAN reached out to the City of Austin to find out how it’s managing the price surge.
Jennifer Walls, the director of the city’s Fleet Mobility Services, sent KXAN a statement that outlined its strategies to mitigate the operational impact.
“Our ongoing shift from gas to electric vehicles is well underway. Our current goal includes adding 330 electric vehicles to the fleet by the end of 2022, with estimated savings over the 10-year life of those vehicles of $3.5 million.
Despite his officers running through a tank of gas each day, Leal isn’t interested in electric vehicles.
“That’s not practical in our world,” he said. “We need to be able to pull up to a fuel station, take five minutes, fuel our Chevy Tahoe’s and go.”
In January, the Williamson County Commissioners Court gave out a 3% raise to all its county employees — except for elected officials.
Due to widespread inflation combined with the rising fuel costs, county officials estimate that they could be $1 million over their budget by the end of the fiscal year.
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