5/8/08
As gas prices rise, public services stay the same
By Jerriod Grizzle

JERRIOD GRIZZLE/Manning Times

Communty volunteer Donna Gordon pumps gas at the Wal-Mart gas station on Hwy. 261. With gas prices soaring and no relief in sight, Gordon said she often shops around for lower prices to fill up her diesel engine.

Among the more than 32,000 citizens of Clarendon County, Community Volunteer Donna Gordon is just one of the thousands that is feeling the pinch of high gas prices.

With gas prices hovering around $3.50 and expecting to go as high as $4-$5 over the spring and summer, Gordom said she doesn’t know what to expect. Gas prices are making her think hard about where she goes and why.

“Often we ride with couples to ease paying out of pocket,” she said.

With diesel fuel at near $4, Gordon said that on average she pays nearly $80 to fill up her truck.

While gas prices have hit the average citizen hard, they have equally laid claim to the budgets of the county and towns in Clarendon.

County Administrator Bill Houser said that because of the fuel prices he has had to put his priorities in order for the county.

“We as a county are a big consumer because of the services we offer and our biggest consumer is our first line of defense,” he said.

Houser said that the first responders including the Sheriff’s Department and the County Fire Department are two of the things that have to run, along with public works.

Houser said that as prices go higher, the county officials will have to make harder and harder decisions.

Controller Lynden Anthony’s first reading of the budget for fiscal year 2008-2009 reflected Houser’s comments.

“At the first reading of the budget our budgeting for gas is $302,600, half of that will go toward first responders excluding the fire department and then we divide it up with almost a third going to public works,” he said.

Anthony said that as far as he knows, the county should not expect a drop in services.

The City of Manning is expecting the same as the county in terms of budgeting for gas prices for the upcoming fiscal year.

City Administrator Rebecca Rhodes said that she doesn’t expect a big effect on already running projects.

“Police and the Public Works Department are on the road all day but it won’t affect the citizens as far as services go,” she said.

Rhodes said that the city’s budget for gas included a 5-10 percent increase for next year.

In the case of the Town of Summerton, Town Administrator Bruce Behrens said that he isn’t expecting any reduction in services either but said that he was optimistic when it came to the future.

“We want to be conscious of our gas expenditures and not have a workforce reduction because of the prices. We are different than the larger jurisdictions because we have such a small workforce,” he said.

Behrens said in the long run he expects that the new project with the Beach Company will bring increased revenue to the town through water and sewer services alone but the jury may still be out on other scenarios.

“Regionally, in the next five years, the future for us looks bright but it is the timing that we are looking at. It should be a very bright prognosis for next year,” he said.

As gas prices rise higher and higher and citizens pay higher and higher prices at the pump, they won’t see any drop off in services from the county or its municipalities.