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AUSTINTOWN -- A pending agreement between the township and school district could stretch the police budget further.
The Austintown Board of Education reviewed a proposal at its meeting Wednesday to allow the Austintown Township Police Department to fill its cruisers on campus, using an unleaded fuel pump owned by the schools. However, no vote was taken.
Township trustees approved the plan at Monday's meeting, and they said it will save the township as much as $60,000 per year.
"We can buy fuel locally from Lyden Oil, we'll buy in bulk, more frequently, and let the police department utilize it, and that could save us anywhere from 50 to 80 cents per gallon," said Trustee Bruce Shepas, who spearheaded the effort.
Shepas said the discussions with Lyden and the school district began just after the new year.
The effort aligns with one of Shepas's campaign promises to find ways to save money through collaboration. He said the township and district already share in the cost and use of rock salt in winter.
The township already owns a diesel tank, but does not have a tank for unleaded fuel and cannot absorb the cost of installing one. Even if it did, Shepas said Austintown wouldn't see a return on that investment for at least four to five years.
The school district, on the other hand, does have a roughly 6,000-gallon unleaded tank that Shepas said it does not use much any more because the district's school buses run on propane.
"It's more of a savings for them," said District Treasurer Blaise Karlovic. "We have always fueled our vehicles here on campus but I know township vehicles are refueled at Sheetz and they don't get the discount from the bulk rate like we get here."
Under the new proposal, the school district will buy fuel from Lyden Oil in bulk, and the township police department will pay a reduced per-gallon rate to the district when cruisers fill up on campus. That will begin in October or November if the district approves the plan.
Township Administrator Mark D'Apolito gave an example of the kind of savings the township hopes to see.
On Aug. 18, Lyden's price for gas was $3.60/gallon. When a township cruiser filled up at Sheetz that day, the price was $4.29/gallon. Shepas said the township's fleet card discount does not come close to those savings.
Austintown's fuel budget for 2026 was about $111,000 and so far the township has spent about $71,000.
"After personnel costs, fuel is up there. Very few things in a township budget are in the hundreds of thousands range," he said. "We like to buy three cruisers a year and that costs about $130,000."
D'Apolito said the township's cruisers take around 14 gallons, and one quarter of a tank of gas is spent per eight-hour shift, so most of a tank is used within a day. There are regularly at least five cruisers on the road every shift.
The school district's other non-bus vehicles will still use the pump but the primary benefit to the district is the increased police presence, since cruisers will be in and out of the property all day every day.
Even if it's not providing much more in the way of fiscal savings for the schools, Karlovic said he thinks the plan works for the community as a whole.
"As stewards of tax dollars it's everyone trying to do their best to save taxpayer money, so I think it's a good idea," he said. "Any time you have the ability to do due diligence and share services and resources, it's beneficial to the taxpayers. I think a lot of local governments are going to have to look at collaborative efforts like that to get savings across their budgets, because that's our role in working for the public."
Shepas said he hopes that if the plan is successful for the police budget, other departments could start to work with the district too. For now, he said, the township does not want to overburden the school.