High fuel costs are taking a toll on everything from school lunch prices to emergency vehicle runs. All local governments have had to add thousands of dollars to their budgets for fuel this year, and will have to keep the increase in place for the budgets that begin July 1, but it doesn’t stop there.

Parents will probably have to pay more for school lunches next year, according to Food Service supervisor Jennifer Wood, who noted that Polk has the lowest price in the area for breakfasts and lunches. School systems, like households, are facing high food costs as fuel prices add to the cost of production and transportation of food. Wood said prices have skyrocketed and were up around $100,000 for the fiscal year. Part of the increase, she said, comes from the addition of more fresh fruits and vegetables to the menu.

To help combat the increase, 11 school districts in Southeast Tennessee have gotten together to form a buying group in hopes of obtaining better prices. She said there has been a lot of work involved in the effort – including negotiations on such things as which brand of chicken tenders to use as well as meeting to coordinate the effort and develop bid specifications. Bids are to be opened at the end of the week and she is hopeful the increase will lessen. The prices are expected to be increased by 25-40% even with the improved purchasing power.

Wood said lunch prices will probably have to increase to cover the costs and allow the food program to have funds available for equipment as needed. She said they recently had to purchase a new freezer/refrigerator and range hood for Copper Basin Elementary, noting the range hood alone cost $20,000. Since the food service program is self-sufficient, those purchases used up a big chunk of the savings.

Meals currently cost 75¢ for breakfast, $1.50 for elementary school lunches and $1.75 for high school lunches. Wood things they may have to add 25¢ to the lunch prices and increase the a la carte items as well. The program is reimbursed for free and reduced priced lunches for low-income students, but Wood said there have been no promises that the reimbursement will increase this year.

School budget director Treva Hyatt said the school system had to add $25,000 to this year’s budget for fuel for school buses, $15,000 for electricity and $10,000 for water. Next year’s budget will also have to reflect the increased costs.

In the county’s general fund budget, nearly $22,000 has been added to the Sheriff’s Department budget for fuel costs, originally estimated at $70,000.

County and city departments, as well as other agencies, get fuel from pumps administered by the Road Department and then reimburse for the costs. Road Superintendent Harold Hood said prices for those pumps go up just the same as for retail pumps, except there are no taxes on the government pumps.

Hood said his department’s budget is based on state fuel taxes. Since the taxes are based on gallons, not prices, there is no windfall to his department from high prices. Actually, he said, he is getting about the same as four years ago but has to deal with costs that are two to three times higher.

Oil prices have an impact on everything he uses, Hood said, since so much road-building material is oil-based. Even stone costs more, he said, because diesel fuel is used in the crushing process. The cost of asphalt, he said, is more than twice as expensive as it was four years ago. And there’s also the cost of getting to work sites. “Hopefully, we can maintain what we’ve got, and do a little more,” he said, adding there’s not much available in the way of federal grants any more. “We just have to hold on, stretch as far as we can.”

Benton Mayor Jerry Stephens said of fuel costs, “they’re hurting us.” He said fuel costs for the police department, which operates 24 hours a day, have more than tripled. For the water department, which needs fuel for maintenance work and meter reading, costs have doubled, while the street/ sanitation department costs are not quite that high. The water department is also in the process of moving lines in advance of the four-laning of Hwy. 411, although those costs will be reimbursed. Stephens said the water and sewer plants operate on electricity, which has gone up 7%, but there are backup fuel-based generators which are tested every other day.

Stephens said they anticipated increases and began cost-saving efforts early in the budget year, such as not letting vehicles idle except when necessary, using batteries for lights, and cutting corners wherever possible. “We are surviving now,” he said, adding he does not want to look at raising water and sewer rates because there are so many people on fixed incomes.

On the positive side, he said, the half-cent increase in the city sales tax rate will allow for building some streets, although costs will be higher than anticipated. He said he hoped they could do more next year as well.

Copperhill City Recorder Sandi Collins said “gas prices are killing us.” She estimated costs for the police department are up at least 35-40%, and there are increases in the cost of mowing, trash pickup, maintenance, the backhoe, and other city vehicles. While Ducktown does contracts with the Sheriff’s Department for police coverage, it too faces increased costs for trash pickup, maintenance and other equipment.