The Fort Wayne City Council on Tuesday locked in unleaded gasoline and diesel prices for 2025 that are lower than the last two years.
The city each year negotiates per-gallon fuel prices with Lassus Bros. Oil Inc. In 2025, the city will pay $2.60 a gallon for unleaded fuel at its bulk fuel station downtown and at all Lassus°®¶¹app™ gas stations.
That°®¶¹app™s 15 cents less than it paid this year and 37 cents less than in 2023. Rates of $2 a gallon or less for unleaded gas were secured for many years before that.
The 2025 price is about the same as current gas prices, but locking in the price now will protect the city from cost fluctuations.
The more than $2.1 million contract accounts for 828,000 gallons of gas next year for an average of 69,000 gallons a month.
The unleaded fuel is used for all city vehicles that do not take diesel, and most of those vehicles are used for public safety, said Todd Brookmyer, city director of fleet management.
Brookmyer also brought the annual request to lock in a diesel fuel rate on Tuesday. The 2025 rate is $3.02 a gallon, compared with the $3.40 a gallon the city paid this year.
The more than $241,000 contract is for 80,000 gallons of diesel, which is what city vehicles are expected to use next year. Brookmyer said fire trucks use most of that fuel.
Fire trucks are also the city°®¶¹app™s most frequent users of filling up at Lassus pumps instead of at the city°®¶¹app™s downtown facility, Brookmyer said. Being able to fill up at Lassus gas stations is a significant perk, because it saves fire trucks and other city vehicles from having to drive downtown to refuel. Lassus has 16 gas stations in Fort Wayne, according to its website.
Councilman Russ Jehl, R-2nd, asked whether more gas has been used since the city fleet management and several other departments moved from downtown to the Avenue of Autos on Illinois Road last year.
Brookmyer said the city is using more gas, but he thinks that°®¶¹app™s because of varying operations °®¶¹app“ not the new location.
Councilman Marty Bender, R-at large, asked about whether the city is using biodiesel, a renewable, biodegradable fuel that°®¶¹app™s made from sources like vegetable oils, animal fats or recycled restaurant grease. Brookmyer said the city uses regular diesel fuel, and the department wouldn°®¶¹app™t entertain biodiesel.
City Council members unanimously approved the gas contracts. Councilwoman Michelle Chambers, D-at large, and Councilman Scott Myers, R-4th, were absent. The council meets at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesdays at Citizens Square, 200 E. Berry St.
