Do you have any idea the amount of money the city of Great Falls pays for gas each year to run their vehicles?  This year the city is budgeting $ 1,220,788,34.  And what if prices continue to climb?  According to the proposed contract set to be approved Tuesday, Oct 18, the price will go up as prices increase and they could go down if prices decrease.

The proposed  contract is with Mountain View Co-op.  They won the bidding over three other companies, Best Oil Dist. Inc., Kernaghans Service, Inc and Tolan Distributing, Inc.  The contract can be approved  for another five years should both sides agree.

HOW MUCH DID THE CITY SPEND LAST YEAR ON GAS?

So,  how much money did the city of Great  Falls spend last fiscal year on gas?  The answer is about $900,000.  The city originally budgeted about $800,000 last year but had to increase the number by $100,000 because of the huge increase in gas prices.  What this means is the city is expecting prices to go up even more because they've already budgeted another $320,000 for this fiscal year.

HOW MUCH MORE FOR TAXPAYERS?

Lets remember that you are the taxpayer.  So,  not only are you taking it in your  wallet every time you stop and fill up, but you are paying for gas again every time a city vehicle is filled up.  And it may not sound like a lot but the average taxpayer is paying around $30.00 more per hear to fill up city vehicles.   As you can see,  paying more at the pump hits you in more ways than one.

In 2020-21 during Covid,  the city saw a dip when they only spent about $684,000 for gas.  In fiscal year 2018-19 the city paid $827,000 for gas.

For this one,  you can't blame the city.  But you can blame other people.  I will let you take a stab at that.  who do you blame,  contact me at pat.frisch@townsquaremedia.com

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