First, law enforcement:
As gas prices surge, Michigan sheriff asks deputies to manage some dispatch calls by phone
With average gas prices at well over $5 a gallon, at least one Michigan police force says it is about to go over its fuel budget and is now asking officers to handle “whatever calls are acceptable” by phone.
The Isabella County Sheriff’s Office announced this week that it is “feeling the pain at the pump,” and has “exhausted what funds were budgeted” for gasoline with “several months to go before the budget reset.”
Local governments are experiencing the same pain as commuters and trying to make adjustments, Dan Gilmartin, the CEO Michigan Municipal League, said Wednesday. He added that the problem is likely to get even worse.
“They’re scrambling,” Gilmartin said of Michigan’s local governments.
County Administrator Nicole Frost confirmed Wednesday that 96% of the Sheriff’s Office’s fuel budget has already been spent — and there are still 3½ months of the fiscal year to go.
As a result, Main said he instructed his deputies to manage by phone whatever calls they could — which he identified as “non-in-progress calls, non-life-threatening calls and calls that do not require evidence collection or documentation.”
Budgets are exhausted and the price of gas is still rising.
What is next to be cut? Patrolling? Property crime investigations?
But it’s not just police, it’s fire too:
High gas prices affecting fire departments
Fire departments throughout the Wabash Valley are feeling the impact of the high gas prices.
They are responding to the issue by making some necessary changes. Fuel costs for fire-trucks have increased by 66% since February.
Although gas prices continue to rise, fire departments won’t let that stop them from making runs.
The fire chiefs of the Terre Haute and Honey Creek Fire Departments say the price is hurting their departments, but there’s not much they can do about it.
Both say they will be over budget this year due to high fuel prices. The fire chief for the Honey Creek Fire Department, Tom High, says they may have to cut back in some places to be able to afford fuel.
“We can’t restrict making runs. I mean that’s what we’re here for but we may have to restrict training, we may have to restrict building inspections and things along those lines so we can keep the fuel available for the incident” shares High.
No training and prevention. Fantastic.
The Biden Administration is doing such a bang-up job that not just can you barely afford to drive to work, your municipal emergency services can’t either.
So the obvious question is: why aren’t local politicians doing supplemental budgets for emergency services? Let them cut overhead from other departments.
The answer of course is: local politicians always cut essential departments first, as a way to teach them uppity voters a lesson when they try to make local governments less expensive.
Tru, dat! Years ago, living in Rural County of The Un-Named Flyover State, the local school district had their millage defeated.
Did they cut administrators?
Junkets…I mean, conferences?
Other deadwood?
NOPE! They cut out busses.
So, how do you imagine Bob T. Farmer’s kids get to school? Yep, Bob drives them to school, and picks them up, placing 2 significant holes in his workday.
Suits. (Spit)
It’s shit like this that makes me believe that there isn’t enough political violence in America. When there is a budget shortfall and the municipality cuts school busses then goes on a week of “training” to Canun in the middle of February, its literally tar, feathers, sticks, and sacks time. Not an election two years later. Into a sack into the river then host a special election to fill the vacancies.
Holding the children hostage, forcing parents to drive the kids.
Kalkaska County Michigan has done this for 30 years.
It is despotism.
It is “us and them” mentality.
The New Green Deal.
A Black Hole.
Every year in IL, right before they vote themselves a raise, the politburo threatens to cut police/school funding if they’re not allowed to raise taxes.
It is no coincidence that the inflation of the 1970s happened when world oil prices increased. First after the Yom Kippur War and the Arab Oil Embargo, then after the fall of Iran to the Shia Fundamentalists.
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Biden destroyed the US Oil and Gas Industry in his first month. His idiotic advisers think you can run a modern economy on Unicorn Farts and Fairy Dust. How to fix it? Lease out Federal Lands, build the Keystone XL, and open ANWR. Oil Prices will come down, if nothing else, just from the change in psychology of the market.
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For Europe? Build the Mediterranean Pipeline from Israel and Cyprus to Europe and provide them alternatives to Russian Oil and Gas. Except F. Joe Biden is blocking that pipeline too! If Egypt, Lebanon, and Syria discover offshore Energy, let them use the pipeline too. Give them a reason to WANT Peace.
I’ll go out on a limb here and ask (at least here in DFW), does 5-0 really need heavied up tahoes with big honkin V8s? Even the Chargers they have are a bit much. And does rescue really need a 2 1/2 T truck? I seem to remember vans at one point. Wouldn’t a sprinter with a v6 diesel do as well?
A big assed ladder truck screams by my house at least once a day. More often mutliple times, and even the pumper truck. Don’t remember the last time a tall building had a fire. How about a smaller truck to accompany the rescue when they go fetch granny out the house for her trip to the ER.
I won’t even go into the population of whiteshirt admins.
They’ve spent recklessly with our cash, and now they’re in a pinch.
I used to work with a young volunteer fireman, nice guy. He asked one day which new fire truck should his department buy, a fully rigged out Freightliner or a bare custom built unit for half again more money plus cost to rig it out like the Freightliner. I’ll give you two guesses which they picked, wrong guess don’t count. Years ago Houston Metro gave all their scum suckers,,, I mean white collar drones full size cars, in case they had to push a broken down bus out of the street. Then they bought diesel bus’s with the exhaust pointed down to the right, you know, where the few passengers stood waiting for the next bus. Millions to retrofit all of them with stack exhausts. Y’all get the idea, bureaucrats will always fuckup any choice, every single time.