While high gas prices may be on the mind’s of travelers this holiday weekend, they are definitely on the minds of Wellington public officials.
    “I wish the price of fuel would stabilize. I just hope and pray,” Superintendent of USD No. 353 Rick Weiss said. “It is impossible to predict what the price of fuel will be, and it wrecks havoc on the school budget.”
    Weiss said that because of the unpredictability of gasoline prices, it will be hard to determine the long-range effects fuel costs will have on the school system.
    But it is certain fuel will be needed to run school buses and vehicles.
    It is possible, as Weiss said, that high fuel prices may “curtail activity.”
    The number of field trips may decrease. The number of miles to travel to athletic events may decrease. The number of people traveling in school vehicles may increase.
    “With the price of fuel the way it is, we have to take a look at every option,” Weiss said. However, “in situations like these, what’s vital is the last things to go.”
    Bus routes will definitely be the last travel expense altered, mill levy and taxes will probably not be increased because of fuel prices, Weiss said.
    But sharp increases in food costs could affect students and parents during the 2008-09 school year.
    “The potential for prices of lunch to go up is there,” Weiss said. “It won’t affect free and reduced lunches, we don’t anticipate that.”
    The Wellington City Council is currently preparing the 2009 budget, and gas prices are also on their minds. Because of the unexpected gasoline increase, expenses have gone up about 30 percent, City Manager Gus Collins said.
    But a tax increase for Wellington citizens is the last scenario Collins wants to see.
    “I prefer to reduce than to raise taxes,” Collins said.
    Collins and the City Council are examining small, day-to-day changes they could initiate that may decrease the city’s travel expenses.
    Altering police patrols by dividing patrols into wards, decreasing the amount of grounds keeping duties on public property, carpooling to projects and places and taking work breaks in the field are all being considered at this time.
    Collins said the city hasn’t reduced services yet and hopes fuel prices won’t force it to do so.
    “My hope is that we can maintain the same level of services,” Collins said.
    Adopting a four-day work week, a plan many companies and cities around the country have adopted to combat their fuel costs is also being considered for the City of Wellington.
    However, Collins said this idea is only in the preliminary stages of discussion and is unlikely to be adopted anytime soon.
    Public services are also being affected by gasoline prices.
    Riding the Wellington Area Local Transit (WALT), a public transportation system provided by non-profit organization Futures Unlimited, will still cost $2 per trip, per person and the hours of operation haven’t changed because of fuel prices.
    “As of right now, we will not be increasing our fairs for WALT,” Transportation Coordinator for Futures Unlimited Denee Rice said.
    But fuel costs have forced Futures Unlimited to increase their rural transit service; a fee of $1 per mile will be charged to patrons.
    Further changes in transit prices or the Futures budget will not be decided at this time.
    “We have to wait and see how gas goes throughout the summer,” Rice said.