Districts find fuel prices bust budgets

Cost guesstimates fall shy

Here’s a math problem giving school districts a headache: If energy prices rise 20 percent to 50 percent and districts budgeted less than that, who makes up the difference?

Cha-ching, taxpayers. Get ready to foot the bill.

The price of diesel fuel hit $2.90 a gallon this year. New federal legislation requiring cleaner burning fuel means thousands of dollars more to cash-strapped school districts. It’s now school budget season – a time for guesstimates and projections.

“We got hit hard this year,” Highland School District Business Administrator Steve Bangert said.

The district’s natural gas prices rose 29 percent and electricity costs were up 35 percent. Highland isn’t alone.

Times Herald-Record (Middletown, NY)