County Dealing With Gas Crisis

BROOKSVILLE - With gas prices nudging $4 a gallon, many homeowners have been forced to adjust their budgets.

The county is no different.

Hernando gets a slightly discounted rate because it buys wholesale from a distributor. Fleet Director Jack Stepongzi said he's paying about $3.50 to $3.60 per gallon to gas up his 500-vehicle fleet.

But even so, costs are skyrocketing.

In October 2007, the county's fuel bill was $182,300. At the end of April, it was $220,420, a 21-percent increase.

Stepongzi, hired five months ago, is making fuel economy a high priority and has already taken measures to save money. He has cut about 25 vehicles from the fleet because of low usage.

Other cost-saving measures:

- Using vehicles for dual tasks. For example, dump trucks can be converted to flatbed trucks by swapping truck bodies.

- Considering using electric engines.

- Looking into the feasibility of hydrogen-fueled vehicles.

- Driving existing vehicles longer before getting them replaced with more expensive models.

- Conducting a vehicle analysis of each department to determine if a less expensive car or truck would better meet employee needs.

Stepongzi said he is also tightening up on the vehicle usage policy to make sure employees are adhering to the rules.

Hernando County's two-page policy spells out in broad, general terms the restrictions for employee use.

Basically, it states that only county employees can use the vehicle and only for county functions. No personal use is allowed. County vehicles can't be driven to and from work. Employees who violate the policy can be disciplined or fired.

Hernando County maintains a pool of county vehicles that every employee - once they demonstrate a need - has access to, providing one is available. About half the 500 vehicles in the fleet are light trucks and cars.

But tracking county employees proved difficult, a fact that was driven home by a 2005 audit that revealed the department needed to improve its mileage-reporting methods.

To that end, Stepongzi hopes to implement in June a program called "Fuel Focus" that will allow department managers to better keep tabs on employees who use county vehicles and cut down on possible misuse.

With Fuel Focus, a device is placed around the vehicle's fuel tank. When the employee puts the gas nozzle into the tank, a transponder records the odometer and will only allow the person to pump the amount of gas allowed to fill up that truck or car.

For example, if a car will hold only 13 gallons of gas, the device will be set at 13 gallons and that fueling will be recorded.

It won't take long, Stepongzi said, for a department manager to see if a particular employee is driving more than necessary.

With the software, transponder and other assorted hardware, Fuel Focus will cost the county about $720,000.

Stepongzi is also hoping to install Global Positioning System (GPS) units in county vehicles by the end of the year, which would further cut back on misuse.

But in the end, it is up to each department manager to monitor their employees' vehicle usage.

He admitted there are times when it might make sense for an employee to take a car home if it means saving gas.

For example, this week, Stepongzi said he had a business event in Tampa that he had to attend. Instead of driving into Brooksville and picking up the county vehicle, he kept it at his Pasco County home and began the trip south from there.

It was simply more cost-effective, he said.

County Administrator David Hamilton said he is aware that gas costs are affecting the budget of the fleet department and it is one of many areas in county government he will be examining during budget season.