Troopers take feet off the gas

Missouri State Highway Patrol troopers are driving around less than they used to, spending more time parked on the side of a road watching motorists. Meanwhile, transportation officials have cut back on mowing along some roadways.

To combat budget-busting fuel prices, the Missouri State Highway Patrol directed troopers to cruise less and instead stay parked -- with the engine on to keep equipment working. Patrol Capt. Chris Ricks said that means troopers catch fewer speeders and are less likely to know if a motorist is stranded, but they may notice more expired plates or other problems.

Cape Girardeau police won't make any such cutbacks, officials said Wednesday, because the department received a bump in the gasoline allowance.

The highway patrol expects to run out of gas money in early March, Ricks said. The agency budgeted about $2.6 million for the fiscal year, which ends June 30, and expects to need an additional $1 million to get by -- if prices don't change.

Like everyone, Cape Girardeau police face extra fuel charges. The city's public works department increased the department's fuel budget, police spokesman Jason Selzer said.

"It is pretty much a non-issue for us," Selzer said. "We haven't changed a thing."

The higher fuel costs forced other changes in the way state government handles business. Transportation officials cut back on mowing along some roadways, and other agencies are working with the state budget office to conserve gas and determine how much more money they'll need for fuel.

"We have certainly directed these agencies where at all possible to reduce the consumption of fuel. That varies by department based on their responsibility," said budget director Larry Schepker.

Agencies also have been told to rein in optional travel.

"The same thing happening to your pocket is happening to the state's pocket," Schepker said.

The patrol asked units around the state to cut back where possible. The patrol also asked employees to car pool when possible and skipped an annual meeting normally held in October.

When asking for gas money from lawmakers, "you have to go with what the history is," Ricks said. If the agency guesses too high, it may have more money than needed that other areas of state government could have used.

"It's hard to ask for a huge amount for gas over what the price is currently."

The Missouri Department of Transportation also is in a bind.

The agency expects its gasoline and diesel costs to rise $10 million this year from last year, though it resells a small portion of that to the patrol. The agency is funded by vehicle and gas taxes, so it doesn't fight other agencies for general tax revenues but still must tighten its belt.

Spokesman Jeff Briggs said no projects have been scrapped because of high gas prices. The agency has coped with the higher prices by delaying some mowing along roadways, encouraging employees to ride together for work duties and handling some matters by teleconference rather than in person.

But the tab keeps rising. For example, the agency is using part of the new money voters directed to roads last year to repave the 2,200 most-traveled miles in the state. Repaving uses asphalt, of which petroleum is a main component, and the price for a ton of asphalt has risen about 30 percent over the past year, Briggs said. So the price tag for that initiative is $80 million higher than it would have been before oil prices soared.

The Department of Mental Health said it too has taken a hit from high gas prices but hopes to shift money around and make it through the year without needing more.

The Department of Corrections is also feeling the pinch but made some changes a couple years ago that are helping. The agency moves prisoners making long trips twice a week. Officials switched from having every prison drive their inmates to Jefferson City en route to their final destination to instead driving to nearby hubs, then shuttling inmates on buses to various regions.

Higher pump prices aren't the only place where consumers and businesses feel the pinch. Businesses that deliver goods are either creating delivery charges or considering hikes in already existing fees.

Domino's Pizza on North Sprigg Street added a 75-cent delivery charge last month when the price of gasoline rose to about $3 a gallon, assistant manager Ben Burke said. Drivers at Domino's are paid a wage and mileage, he said.

"With the gas going up that high, there was no way we could afford to do it," he said. "We did this so we could raise the mileage payment."

The high gas prices almost forced Siemer's Best Brands appliance stores to raise their delivery fees, said Irmagard Siemer, store owner. The peak in gas prices was cutting severely into the store's profits on sales and repairs, she said.

"We hoped it might drop again, which it did," Siemer said. "We were really getting kind of anxious."

For many years, the 35-year-old store did not charge for delivery, she said. The charges were first instituted five years ago because of the pressure on profit margins from large discount stores. The company charges $29.95 for deliveries in the Jackson and Cape Girardeau areas, a little more for longer runs.

"We just about raised those," Siemer said. "I thought, we can't stomach this anymore."