Lower gas prices good for city, school district

Across the country gas prices have been falling steadily over the past several months, including here in Blytheville, where gas prices are lower than they've been since 2009, and local organizations are benefiting from the drop in price.

The city of Blytheville has seen a fairly significant savings in the last three months of 2014 thanks to the dropping fuel prices. In October, November and December the city spent $29,401.35, $25,621.86 and $22,167.17, respectively, on fuel, which was a significant decrease from the three months prior, when the city's fuel expenditures rang in at $34,097.74 in July, $31,985.76 in August and $28,896.80 in September.

Local school districts, including the Blytheville School District, are also seeing a decrease in fuel prices, but the district's method for buying both gasoline and diesel fuels don't show as big of a drop in expenses.

The Blytheville School District buys diesel and gasoline once its tanks at the service center drop below a certain point, making the purchases a little tougher to predict from month to month, according to Superintendent Richard Atwill in a recent school board meeting.

In 2013, the last two diesel purchases came in at $3.23 per gallon on Oct. 10, and $3.19 on Nov. 18, totaling $24,081.78 and $23,248.58 respectively. The district also provided the numbers for the final two gasoline purchases that year, having paid $3.33 per gallon for a total of $22,568.43 in July, and $3.19 per gallon for a total of $15,350.40 that September.

For 2014, Blytheville Schools bought diesel in November and again in December, at a purchase rate of $2.73 and $2.02 per gallon, down significantly from the last two purchases in 2013. In April, and again in September, the district purchased gasoline at $3.25 and $2.85 per gallon, respectively, for its final two purchases on the year.

While exact predictions of how fuel prices will fluctuate cannot be made, USA Today reported Monday that the yearly average for 2015 could drop as low as $2.64 per gallon -- the lowest national average since 2009 -- significantly lower than the 2014 average of $3.34 and the 2012 record high of $3.60

cpinkard@blythevillecourier.com.