The other day I was speaking with my good friend Herman I.B.D. Bradley, the Longtown Oracle. He was in a good mood and telling me how the recent drop in gas prices put extra money in his pocket and the two new pair of Levis he was able to purchase because of it when the conversation took a serious turn.

Herman and I got to wondering what the county was going to do with their extra fuel money. He asked if I thought the supervisors might buy every employee two new pair of Levis, ride a lot more, or what. After assuring him the Levi plan was probably out, we started speculating and came up with two possible answers.

One was they’d spend it; two was reduce our taxes. After all, this big drop in fuel prices puts more money into everyone’s pockets to spend on things other than fuel. Household goods, auto parts and tires, recreational items, eating out more often, and yes; blue jeans. And along with this comes more sales tax money for the state, cities, and towns.

Now, the question is; where is that money going? First, let’s pin down where some of this money is coming from. The price of a gallon unleaded regular gasoline, EXCLUDING State and Federal taxes of 37 cents PER gallon which the County is exempt from paying, was $2.75 January 5, 2014 vs $1.66 January 5, 2015. (These figures come from AAA data base.)  A 35 percent decrease for gasoline. Diesel fuel, which the County uses also, costs 21 percent less.

Panola County in its last fiscal year (10/01/13 to 9/30/14) spent, based on their records, $1,150,064.95 on gasoline and diesel for all County departments. If half was gasoline and half diesel the county would save $322,000.00 in fuel cost provided fuel stays at the January 5, 2015 price.

If the prices continue to fall as many experts predict, those savings will increase. Another 25 to 30 cent per gallon drop in fuel costs would bring those savings to approximately $450,000.00 not spent just on fuel. It could be applied to some outstanding debt the county has in order to save that loan or debt interest. Practically everything around us is connected to oil; tires, plastic culverts, asphalt, tar, freight/delivery charges; the list is endless.  Sustained lower oil prices should, in time, reduce the cost of these items thus freeing up more personal spending power as well as tax revenue.

As to what the county leaders will decide to do with these funds……….fear not for they will come up with some “project” to spend it on before using it to reduce our taxes. Even if it means buying blue jeans.

Bob Bryant
Crenshaw