This yr's fuel invoice represents a 58% enhance from earlier years.
Christopher Sadowski for NY Publish
New York Metropolis has spent greater than $108 million over the previous yr on gasoline to rev up the nation’s largest municipal fleet of automobiles – a whopping 58 p.c enhance over the earlier 12 months.
Information supplied solely to The Publish by Comptroller Brad Lander’s workplace exhibits metropolis businesses racked up $108,395,802 in gasoline payments to energy the fleet’s almost 30,000 automobiles between July 1, 2021 and June 20. The present fiscal yr ends June 30.
Within the earlier fiscal yr, town spent $68,780,299 on fuel.
Among the many businesses slammed hardest have been the Sanitation Division, which noticed a 68% enhance in prices to $31.1 million; the Transportation Division, which noticed a 79.3% spike to $21.9 million; the NYPD, which jumped 57.5% to $21.7 million; and the FDNY, which noticed prices surge 55% to $13 million.
“Inflation and international shortages are fueling the rising value of fuel, and everyone seems to be feeling the squeeze, together with metropolis businesses,” Lander stated.
Final week, the nationwide common worth for gasoline hit $5 for the primary time ever as total power costs are proceed to be by way of the roof worldwide.
The surge in gasoline prices comes regardless of efforts over the previous few years by Mayor Adams and his predecessor Invoice de Blasio to trim the municipal fleet’s dimension and have staff rely extra on hybrid and electrical automobiles, relatively than gas-guzzling vehicles and SUVs.
The fleet used 25,796,373 gallons of gasoline in fiscal 2021 and was on tempo to exceed that whole through the first 4 months of this fiscal yr, utilizing 8,764,888 gallons, in response to knowledge launched by the Mayor’s Workplace in February.
Metropolis officers attribute the current uptick in fuel use to the truth that fewer metropolis automobiles have been on the highway through the peak of the pandemic the yr earlier than.
The town’s total power prices have risen the previous yr by 10.3%, or almost $139 million, from $1.34 billion in fiscal 2021 to $1.48 billion this fiscal yr, in response to the comptroller.
Gasoline prices to warmth, mild up and run metropolis properties spiked by 65% to $91.1 million. Nonetheless, town depends on pure fuel and different sources of power to function it faculties, libraries and most of its properties, and that value use rose by 5% to $1.28 billion.
The Mayor’s Workplace disputed the comptroller’s numbers, saying on Friday its knowledge exhibits city-vehicle gasoline prices rose by 50%, from $61.4 million in fiscal 2021 to $92.2 million so far this fiscal yr.
Nonetheless, each Adams and Lander agree on why power prices are up throughout the board and imagine town will see substantial financial savings down the highway because it shifts to utilizing extra electrical automobiles and retrofits its buildings to rely extra on cleaner, cheaper power.
“The rising value of fuel, excessive inflation, and ongoing provide chain points have all contributed to greater gasoline prices for metropolis businesses,” stated Jonah Allon, a mayoral spokesman. “Regardless of this difficult surroundings, we proceed to consistently monitor prices and search for efficiencies, consistent with the mayor’s fiscally accountable method.”
Adams has introduced plans to lower 855 automobiles from the fleet through the subsequent fiscal yr starting July 1.
He additionally solely informed The Publish in January he needs to slash the fleet to a “naked bones minimal,” which incorporates dropping it to at the very least ranges seen throughout Michael Bloomberg’s time as mayor almost a decade in the past, when it was beneath 26,000 automobiles.
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