The crises in the Middle East have brought on a crisis in Fairfax County – albeit a minor one in light of tumbling dictators and deadly air raids. Gas is much, much more expensive than county officials had bargained for.
Instead of the $2.37 per gallon Fairfax had budgeted for its fleet of school buses, police cars, ambulances and the rest, the county is paying closer to $3.20. And if that jump is tough on an individual commuter, imagine the county’s fuel intake of nearly 11 million gallons per year.
Unless gas prices go down – and no one really expects that – Fairfax budget officials expect the total bill to be about $8 million more than anticipated.
About half of that will be covered by reserve account, said Fairfax budget director Susan Datta. The rest will be a problem for later in the year.
