Council wants to see where county could use savings from lower fuel costs

March 3, 2015

Summary

Motion calls for report on how much was saved, which programs could benefit from additional revenues

Story

At the March 2 meeting of the Metropolitan King County Council, the council adopted a motion calling on the King County Executive to prepare a report on funds available from the savings created by the lower than projected fuel costs.

“The opportunity to reprogram unanticipated funds to help stabilize rates and increase services was something I believed the Council could not pass up,” said Council Vice Chair Jane Hague, the sponsor of the motion.

As with many major businesses and governments whose operations utilize significant volumes of fuel, King County should realize significant savings from the recent decrease in the fuel prices.

Metro Transit and to a lesser extent, the County’s Solid Waste, Wastewater and Fleet Services continue to use the majority of the fuel in King County. Through the use of electric buses and bio-diesel gas, King County has made tremendous progress in lowering its fuel-dependent services.

There has been a dramatic change in the price of gas at the pump compared to 2014. At its lowest, gas prices locally were down near $2.00 a gallon at some stations, a third lower than they were last year when the budget was prepared.

The motion asks the Executive to identify potential savings based on updated fuel price projections. The motion also asked for information on how to ‘lock in” fuel savings and if some of the fuel savings could be redirected towards efforts to further reduce the carbon footprint of County agencies.

The motion calls for the Executive to present the report to the Council in May of this year.