As of June 28, according to gasbuddy.com, the price of gasoline in the North Royalton area ranges from $4.86 to $4.97 per gallon for regular, unleaded gas. More than double from this time two years ago, “$1.98/gal on June 1, 2020 to $2.19/gal on July 31, 2020.” Last year, in the Midwest, the price average increased to $2.99 for the week of June 28, 2021, according to turnpikeinfo.com.
This rise affects not only those drivers filling up their tanks, but overall transportation costs, driving the cost of goods up. This not only makes the overall cost of living increase for individual residents, but also affects the operation of cities. Costs of road improvement has increased, due to the cost of material increases. It has affected North Royalton recently, when they had to increase their portion of the cost of the repavement project of Ridge Road.
The gas prices have directly impacted the City’s budget. North Royalton City Council adopted an ordinance that authorized the Mayor to amend a contract with Senior Transportation Connect, who is contracted to transport North Royalton senior citizens. The amendment calls for a fuel escalator chart, which allows for an increased allotment to cover increased gas costs. They also adopted an amended appropriation ordinance, which allowed for an increased amount to offset rising fuel costs.
President Biden recently announced a tax holiday through the end of the year. He also asked governors to do the same. At the time of this writing, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine has not announced that the state will follow suit. When asked if he sees the gas cost increase to pose a problem for the City this year, Mayor Larry Antoskiewicz said that “we are in good enough shape to withstand it, but it will have an impact either with carryover, or projects we were looking to do in the second half of the year.”
North Royalton Finance Director, Jenny Esarey noted that the city is in a good financial place, stating that “overall we are 15% over from January to June from last year, and operating at 61% of the projected 2022 budget.” On the fuel situation for the city, she said that “at this time, I did include two budget amendments for fuel. One was for our main fuel budget that we purchase through the Construction and Maintenance Fund and the second was for the Police Department through the General Fund. Everyone else at this time, was operating through the main budget, but those two were needed. We will continue to monitor, as we don’t know where the gas prices are going to go.”
If the governor decides to issue a tax holiday for fuel for the state, this will impact the monthly revenue the City receives from that gas tax. “We do receive gas tax revenue from the state,” said Esarey. “Through this year, we are at 48% for receipts, operating within what we estimated for the gas tax. That equates to $861,155.25, which goes to the Streets, Construction, Maintenance Fund and State Highway Fund, which both deal with road infrastructure projects.

By GLORIA PLEVA KACIK
Contributing Writer