Craig — Despite the relative comfort of being tax-exempt compared to residents, Moffat County and the city of Craig are not immune to gas price fears, officials said.

Both the city and the county expect to be over budget this year for gas – to the point where officials anticipate a dip into fiscal reserves by year’s end – due to the escalating price for diesel fuel.

However, city and county representatives said no one expects either government body will cut services this year.

Moffat County has spent 51 percent of its fuel budget, three months into 2008, said Linda DeRose, county Road and Bridge Department director.

“We will almost certainly be over budget this year,” she said.

The county increased its fuel allocation 3.2 percent higher than 2007, bringing the total to $515,000.

County Commissioner Tom Mathers said the final tally could easily be more than a million dollars when all is said and done, but there will not be a negative impact on residents this year.

“No, we’re not going to cut any services,” Mathers said. “We’ve got reserves. We certainly don’t want to raise taxes for” gas costs.

Officials hope this year’s high cost is more of an aberration than a trend, Mathers added.

An abnormal winter and the loss of the County Shop – which burned down last November – hurt the Road and Bridge Department budget as much as anything else, he said.

Winter road conditions forced vehicles into service constantly this winter, DeRose said. Without the County Shop to shelter vehicles from the cold, they had to idle about an hour each morning to be useable, consuming more fuel.

The city Road and Bridge and its Refuse departments are seeing similar problems, though not at the same level as the county, said Randy Call, Road and Bridge and Refuse director.

Road and Bridge has spent about 39 percent of its approximate $75,000 fuel budget, and the city has spent about 30 percent of the $60,000 budgeted for its solid waste fund.

When city departments prepared budgets last July, Call incorporated a 10 percent increase over what diesel fuel cost at the time, going from $2.56 to $2.81 a gallon.

Last week, Call said he spent $3.56 a gallon, about 27 percent more than budgeted.

Whatever the cost becomes, cutting Road and Bridge services is not a possibility, Call said.

“There’s no way we can cut back,” he said. “We’ve just got to trudge on.”

As for solid waste, the city established that as an enterprise fund, meaning its revenue is made up entirely from user fees and not taxes. Those fees could be subject to change.

Currently, however, solid waste revenue exceeds expenses, including fuel. But, with the Moffat County Landfill increasing costs by $5 a ton April 1, and with more people taking advantage of the city’s recycling program, the solid waste fund could be in a deficit before 2009, Call said.

City officials never intended to make money from recycling, Call added. It was intended to be a community service.

However, the program’s use has gone up to the point where city trucks are driving to Steamboat Springs daily, he said. People from around the region – such as Meeker, Maybell and Baggs, Wyo., residents – recycle through the city of Craig because there is no cost to the customer.

All in all, Call estimated the recycling program might cost $60,000 this year, double what it cost when the program began in 2005.

The city and the county are looking at ways to balance their books, officials said.

For the county, that may mean the Road and Bridge Department won’t buy all the items it budgeted for, such as gravel and road culverts, DeRose said.

For the city, officials still are deliberating on what is the best solution.

Call told the City Council at its March 25 meeting he would like to see the city’s general fund – made of collected tax revenue – subsidize the solid waste program, a proposal City Manager Jim Ferree did not support.

There is enough money in the general fund for the city to not be worried about a deficit for this year, Call said.

Another possible solution may be to add a fuel surcharge to recycling or solid waste disposal, Call said, but discussions on that have so far been hypothetical.

In any case, the city will wait and see how the year plays out and how much increased County Landfill fees affect the city budget, Call said.

City and county officials said they were glad authorities had set aside reserve funds for situations such as this.

“We’re definitely worried about” gas prices, county Budget Analyst Tinneal Gerber said. “Our fuel costs are probably going to be blown out of the water. But this is why we want reserves.”

Ferree, speaking for the city, said he is thankful the Council set aside its reserve.

“We’re going to have to keep an eye on all funds in the future,” he said. “Thankfully, we have these reserves to use.”