Following the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the nation saw prices at the pump skyrocket to more than $3 a gallon.

Mt. Hood Community College, as a result, is experiencing financial hardships. This year the school is looking to spend $2.56 a gallon for regular gas, according to Gary Murph, chief operating officer.

MHCC would be spending $34,100 this fiscal year out of the general fund for gas alone.
This is up from the last fiscal year, when gas was $1.74 a gallon and the school spent $23,200 total.

Susan Brady, director of child development and family support programs, is facing cuts in her program as a result of high fuel costs.

The Head Start program owns 15 buses and seven vans and will be adding three more buses soon.

Two of the current buses are diesel, while the rest of the fleet runs on unleaded fuel.

Collectively, the planned fuel budget is $30,000-$40,000 for this fiscal year. The program is now looking at fuel costs of more than $50,000.

According to Brady, there is not much flexibility in their budget.

“We will have to find money from other sources, such as salaries or supplies,” Brady said. “Every month we will look for areas we under spent, and that money will go toward fuel costs.”

Students are also concerned by high fuel costs. Brooke-Lynn Young, a second-year student, carpools with her roommate, Rebecca Joli.

“We are spending $10 a day to get around,” Young said.

Young plans to walk to school starting in the fall term to save money.

Crystal Reed, a first year student, plans to drive to her classes but recognizes the financial strain it will cause.

“I will be working less hours when school starts, which will make paying for gas more difficult,” Reed said.

For other MHCC students, TriMet provides the transportation they need at a reasonable price. Maria Hadeed, a first-year student, uses MAX to get to Portland instead of driving.

“It is cheaper to pay the fare to ride MAX than to drive,” Hadeed said.

TriMet has also experienced financial issues because of high fuel costs.

Mary Fetsch, communications director for TriMet, says that since their fiscal year began in July, they have already gone $3.5 million over their planned fuel budget. Their budget called for diesel fuel costs to be $1.50 without tax.

This means they planned to spend $10 million on fuel this fiscal year.

They have already reached $13.5 million.

In order to recover their losses, TriMet is looking at several changes in policy and a possible fare increase before the year’s end.

According to Fetsch, TriMet is planning to put a policy in place to help track the market better and, when prices increase, it would trigger an auto plan that may include fare increases.

The TriMet board of directors will meet Sept. 28 to discuss a potential fare increase before December. This increase may be between 10 cents and 15 cents.

The latest fare increase of 10 cents took place this month.

More information is available by calling 503-252-0758.