Gasoline prices that are nearing $4 a gallon are just a headache for the everyday commuter and traveler these days.

Local municipal governments are also feeling the pinch at the gas pump, especially for police departments.

That was illustrated at Tuesday’s Slidell City Council workshop on the 2009 budget when Councilman Bill Borchert wanted to know how much gas the police department is using. “The police are traditionally the biggest gas consumers, and my concern is the cost of gas relative to city expenses,” Borchert said.

Deputy Police Chief Jesse Simon told the council he has been doing a study on fuel consumption since September 2007. He said the police department averages between 1,900 to 2,000 gallons of gas per week. Simon said gas consumption is “fairly stable.”

“It all depends on how much we use the cars,” Simon said.

However, he said the department is doing everything it can to cut the fuel bill. The Slidell Police Department has a contract with Fuelman, a company that sells gasoline to fleets at bulk prices. Currently, the police are paying $3.40 a gallon with Fuelman. Mayor Ben Morris said Fuelman is supposed to give the department spot market price, but he believes that is not happening.

Simon said he is telling his patrol officers to fill up the police cruisers at the Kangaroo Station on Northshore Boulevard because they are selling gas at $3.33 a gallon.

“We could save the city $5,000 if they keep the price down,” Simon said.

Councilman Joseph Fraught asked if the department has looked into purchasing hybrid cars that use both gas and electric engines.

Morris said hybrids would not be practical for the police.

“Most hybrids get good mileage on the highway, but not in the city with all the stop-and-go driving,” Morris said. “We would like to get hydrogen cars, but they are too expensive.”

The state of the current fleet of police cars is also a concern of the police department.

“We are seriously hurting for parts for police cars,” Police Chief Freddie Drennan said. “We don’t have enough money in our budget to get new cars, plus we are out of our car maintenance money.”

Police spokesman Capt. Kevin Foltz said the department tries to buy four to five new cars a year and then keep them for five years before they are declared surplus and sold at public auction.

“It’s hard to do that. These cars put on 70,000 hard miles. and after about three years, they start to have problems,” Foltz said.

He said the department has had to resort to keeping some cars around for longer than five years. He said a lot of them are not auctioned off but kept for parts for newer cars to save repair costs. Also, when the department buys new cars, they are stripped-down models without the lights, sirens and other police equipment.

“We don’t like to do it, but we will take the light bar off an old car and put in on a new one,” Foltz said.

One light bar, the flashing lights on the roof of a police car, costs about $2,000, Foltz said.

He added the police budget for cars also goes for oil changes, tune-ups and new tires, and those expenses add up.

“We’re trying everything to save money around here,” Foltz said.