DECATUR - Illinois residents are paying twice for the increasing cost of gasoline and diesel fuel, once when they fill up their personal vehicles and again when their tax dollars are spent to fuel government vehicles.

Local governments especially are feeling the financial squeeze of those rising fuel costs and soon residents will see their impact.

For example, Decatur parks won't be as closely cropped this summer with some areas frequently ignored as the Decatur Park District seeks to reduce fuel bills, said William Clevenger, district executive director.

The park district added $55,000 for mowing to its fiscal 2009 budget that took effect May 1, bringing total budgeted mowing expense to $302,000, said Rodney Buhr, the park district's chief financial officer. Buhr said he isn't sure that amount will be enough to cover costs.

"We have 85 mowing units plus other vehicles," Buhr said. "We mow 2,000 acres in the parks and 2,000 and acres at the airport. Our average fuel cost in fiscal 2006 was $2.28 a gallon which increased to $2.36 a gallon in fiscal 2007. For fiscal 2008 the average was $2.90 a gallon and for the new fiscal year we've budgeted $3.50 a gallon. That's a 54 percent increase over four years."

The city of Decatur exceeded its budget for diesel and regular gasoline by roughly $138,900 for the fiscal year that ended April 30, said Assistant City Manager Billy Tyus. That included fuel used by police squad cars, heavy equipment, neighborhood standards vehicles and others, he said.

The Decatur Public Transit System's fuel costs exceeded budget by about $29,100, Tyus said. However, in the future some of the biggest fuel-related cost overruns could come in the transit system which uses more than 200,000 gallons of fuel annually, he said.

"Since the federal funds we receive to fund transit are built into a balanced budget, the grant doesn't assist us in paying these high fuel increases," Tyus said. "The new Illinois Department of Transportation grant will reimburse the city for 65 percent of all operating expenses, which means that the city is responsible for paying the remaining 35 percent.

"For whatever amount transit exceeds its fuel budget, DOT should cover 65 percent and the city will have to cover the remaining 35 percent."

Tyus said the city is considering possible operating changes for its buses that include shorter hours of operation, eliminating routes and reducing service on some routes to hourly rather than every 30 minutes. He said discussions among staff members also are focusing on finding small ways to reduce fuel consumption.

One example is shutting off buses rather than idling during layovers exceeding 5 minutes, Tyus said. Driver suggestions on conservation methods are being sought as the city looks for ways to conserve fuel, he said.

There are no functions the city is performing which can be reduced, Tyus said.

"Our base line services include sewer backup response, sewer cleaning, inlet and catch basin cleaning, street repairs, sweeping, asphalt patching, concrete street and sidewalk patching and repairs, traffic signal repairs and forestry maintenance," he said.

Macon County hasn't yet felt the impact of rising fuel costs, said County Auditor Amy Stockwell.

"We're actually slightly down in fuel expenditures from the same time last year but that could simply be a timing issue," Stockwell said. "One big (fuel) invoice from the sheriff's office and we could be over budget.

Both the sheriff's office and animal control increased their fuel budgets for the fiscal year that began Dec. 1, Stockwell said. But fuel purchase invoices received so far this year by the county do not reflect the spike in fuel prices, she said.

County Engineer Bruce Bird, who oversees maintenance of roads and bridges, said he sees a different problem stemming from the motor fuel tax receipts the state shares with the counties.

"The motor fuel tax is a flat 19 cents a gallon," Bird said. "That money goes to the state road fund and is paid out to the counties. No matter how much the price per gallon increases, the (motor fuel tax) remains 19 cents. We've seen our revenues remain flat in recent years. But over the last five years, the price of asphalt and other petroleum-based supplies has doubled."

The county normally receives between $2.4 million and $2.5 million a year in MFT funds to help purchase road maintenance materials, a figure that has been increasing between 1 percent and 1.5 percent each year until recently, Bird said.

"(Motor fuel tax) receipts have been decreasing the last four months," Bird said. "People have had enough and are crying 'Uncle!' We will lose some revenue this year."

Highway workers have been told not to allow trucks to idle more than is necessary, Bird said. But that is a small step, he said.

"If something in the (motor fuel tax) formula doesn't change, the services people are used to could be cut," Bird said. "You can defer maintenance on roads for a time. But eventually, they will fall apart. Then it really costs to get them back in shape again."

School districts are feeling the pinch in the pocketbook as well.

"Since 2004 our fuel expenditures have doubled," said Michael Sotiroff, buildings and grounds director for the Decatur School District. "That is less money we have to do improvements on the schools.

"We try to anticipate the (fuel) price increases. But the market is so volatile. The last two years we've gone over budget. The same is true of natural gas. Those markets are driven by forces that you have no control over."

Randy Dotson, director of purchasing and transportation for the Decatur district said two years ago when the last contract was negotiated with Durham School Services to bus students to school, the district agreed to pay any fuel costs that exceeded $2.25 a gallon. He said at that time, the figure was the best guess of costs that could be made.

"We guess as close as we can," Dotson said. "We don't want to be over on the per gallon fuel cost because then we'd be paying too much. When we go out for bid on transportation services next year, we'll factor fuel costs into that contract."

The Mount Zion School District purchases the diesel fuel for buses, which are operated under a contract with First Student Inc., said Superintendent Darbe Brinkoetter.

"We budgeted $120,000 for fuel costs this school year and it's already spent," she said. "We estimate we'll exceed that cost by 20 percent to 25 percent this year. We'll just have to add more money to our (fiscal 2009) budget."

First Student reimburses the school district $2 a gallon for bus fuel as part of its contract, Brinkoetter said. The contract will be put out for bids again in 2009, she said.

Brinkoetter said the district has not cut bus usage yet.

"There are a lot of field trips taken in April and May," she said. "We didn't feel it was right to cut back on those."

Ron Ingram can be reached at ringram@herald-review.com or 421-7973.