Gas price increase

Pinch of gas price increase being felt all over

Taxi fares remain stable, but the rising cost of gasoline is putting the pinch on drivers.

"The prices make a big difference to the drivers," C.T.S. Taxi dispatcher Rick Tellier said Thursday. "That's their living."

C.T.S. drivers lease their vehicles from the company and pay for their own gas. What money remains is their profit, he said.

"When they (prices) jump like that and you fill the tank two times a day it can really take a nice chunk out of you," Tellier said.

Gasoline prices that are about 50 cents per gallon higher than last year at this time have small businesses and local governments alike worried about the bottom line. Speculation about a war in the Mideast promises to keep the prices up.

The statewide average price for regular, self-service gasoline Wednesday was $1.71, while it was $1.65 in La Crosse, according the AAA Wisconsin.

Competition from Minnesota retailers helps keep La Crosse's prices below the state average, said Michael Bie, spokesman for AAA Wisconsin.

The statewide average a month ago was $1.51, while last year at this time it was $1.19. A year ago, however, repercussions from the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the East Coast were still keeping demand low, Bie said. Travel was down significantly.

Like C.T.S., Running Inc.' which operates transit systems in Onalaska, Holmen, Viroqua and Prairie du Chien, has not increased its fares because of the gas price hike. It's leaders hope contingencies built into its annual budget outlast the high gas prices.

"We kind of try to cover (price increases) a little bit, but it still is an issue," said owner Richard Running. "The prices have gone up before. Hopefully they will come back down."

The city of La Crosse is only a month and a half into its 2003 budget and is not feeling the pain of high prices yet, according to Patrick Caffrey, La Crosse Public Works director.

"If it stays this high, obviously by end of the year we will have some problems," he said.

Price spikes in 2001 led the city to budget higher than it wound up spending in 2002. But those budget numbers were reduced for 2003, in part because of concerns about the state budget impact on the city, he said.

For 2002, the city budgeted $390,000 for diesel and $175,000 for gasoline, but Caffrey estimates it spent only $320,000 and $155,000 respectively. For 2003, the city budgeted $357,200 for diesel and $168,000 for gasoline, he said.

"We've talked to all of our departments about being careful about what they use, but we haven't stopped plowing snow or ... stopped operating," Caffrey said.

Three major events have contributed to the rise in prices since the beginning of the year, when the statewide average was $1.38 - a general strike in Venezuala that shut down the country's 3 to 4 million barrel a day crude oil production, a cold snap in the Northeast U.S. that boosted the demand for home heating oil, and, most recently, President Bush's state of the union address, which made the prospect of war with Iraq appear more likely, said Bie. Within two weeks of the address, prices rose about 20 cents, he said.