Oil Prices Squeezing Schools, Services : Government: Officials fear transportation costs will soar from 20% to 50% if the crisis in the Persian Gulf does not abate soon.

While individual motorists are digging deeper into their pockets for a few extra dollars to meet rising fuel costs, Orange County governmental agencies and school districts are dipping deeper into their coffers for thousands of extra dollars to keep vital public services from literally running out of gas.

With oil prices at a seven-year high, county government and school officials predicted that the cost of running buses, maintenance and sanitation trucks, police cars and other vehicles essential to county operations could soar from 20% to 50% if the crisis in the Persian Gulf does not abate soon.

Most school district and county officials stressed that the continuing increase in gasoline and diesel prices should not have an immediate effect on public services. But they added that in a worst-case scenario--that is, if the crisis drags on or if war breaks out and disrupts the flow from Saudi oil fields--Orange County residents may see cutbacks in transportation services or hikes in bus fares.

“One of the last resorts would be to raise fares, and then the very, very last resort would be to reduce service,” said Joanne Curran, a spokeswoman for the Orange County Transit District. “The last thing we want to do is cut service. We would increase fares before we did that, although that also is not a pleasant thought.”

Although the Persian Gulf situation is barely a month old, Curran said the county is already grappling with the fallout from the crisis. OCTD officials expect that, even if prices begin leveling off immediately, diesel fuel for its fleet of 481 buses will cost $900,000 more than originally projected for the current fiscal year. The state’s new 5-cent-per-gallon tax on gasoline will tack on another $300,000 to the county’s annual fuel tab, Curran said.

OCTD paid 52.3 cents per gallon for diesel fuel on Aug. 3 and 72.9 cents per gallon on Aug. 21. Curran said OCTD will try to offset the increased costs by delaying work on some new facilities and by cutting back on cosmetic improvements, such as a scheduled paint job for some of the fleet’s older buses.

The news isn’t all bad for OCTD, however. Curran said that bus ridership has risen by about 30% in the last two years and that ridership will probably increase even more as motorists decrease use of personal vehicles to combat rising fuel costs.

While more riders may help balance out OCTD’s ledgers, there is little that can be done to offset the increased cost of operating the county’s 1,480 fleet vehicles--including sheriff’s patrol cars and vehicles for county inspectors and maintenance personnel--and 109 trucks and buses, said Robert J. Stechmann, manager of the county’s transportation division.

The county has budgeted slightly more than $1.9 million to keep tanks filled at its six stations for county-owned vehicles, Stechmann said. More than 21,000 gallons of fuel is dispensed from the county’s Civic Center gas station alone each month.

The County Board of Supervisors would have to approve any increase in the $1.9-million fuel budget if the crisis continues and gas supplies are endangered, Stechmann said. He added that in such an event, the board could order limitations on the use of some county vehicles.

“If we get into a severe situation, public safety vehicles will receive priority, and (vehicles for) essential services so that the county can continue to transact business would follow,” Stechmann said. Use of pool cars by county officials would probably be curtailed first, he said.

School districts around the county have even fewer options than government agencies or OCTD since services, for the most part, are difficult to cut. “You have to bus the kids, and maintenance vehicles are really necessary to keep the district operating,” said William Moncure, director of purchasing for the Santa Ana Unified School District.