NYC’s gas bill for vehicle fleet rises 58% in past year to $108M

New York City has spent more than $108 million over the past year on fuel to rev up the nation’s largest municipal fleet of vehicles – a whopping 58 percent increase over the previous 12 months.

Data provided exclusively to The Post by Comptroller Brad Lander’s office shows city agencies racked up $108,395,802 in fuel bills to power the fleet’s nearly 30,000 vehicles between July 1, 2021 and June 20. The current fiscal year ends June 30.  

In the previous fiscal year, the city spent $68,780,299 on gas.

Among the agencies slammed hardest were the Sanitation Department, which saw a 68% increase in costs to $31.1 million; the Transportation Department, which saw a 79.3% spike to $21.9 million; the NYPD, which jumped 57.5% to $21.7 million; and the FDNY, which saw costs surge 55% to $13 million.  

“Inflation and global shortages are fueling the rising cost of gas, and everyone is feeling the squeeze, including city agencies,” Lander said.

Last week, the national average price for gasoline hit $5 for the first time ever as overall energy prices are continue to be through the roof worldwide.

The surge in fuel costs comes despite efforts over the past few years by Mayor Adams and his predecessor Bill de Blasio to trim the municipal fleet’s size and have workers rely more on hybrid and electric vehicles, rather than gas-guzzling cars and SUVs.

The fleet used 25,796,373 gallons of fuel in fiscal 2021 and was on pace to exceed that total during the first four months of this fiscal year, using 8,764,888 gallons, according to data released by the Mayor’s Office in February.

City officials attribute the recent uptick in gas use to the fact that fewer city vehicles were on the road during the height of the pandemic the year before.

The city’s overall energy costs have risen the past year by 10.3%, or nearly $139 million, from $1.34 billion in fiscal 2021 to $1.48 billion this fiscal year, according to the comptroller.

Fuel costs to heat, light up and run city properties spiked by 65% to $91.1 million. However, the city relies on natural gas and other sources of energy to operate it schools, libraries and most of its properties, and that cost use rose by 5% to $1.28 billion.

The Mayor’s Office disputed the comptroller’s numbers, saying on Friday its data shows city-vehicle fuel costs rose by 50%, from $61.4 million in fiscal 2021 to $92.2 million to date this fiscal year.

However, both Adams and Lander agree on why energy costs are up across the board and believe the city will see substantial savings down the road as it shifts to using more electric vehicles and retrofits its buildings to rely more on cleaner, cheaper energy.

“The rising cost of gas, high inflation, and ongoing supply chain issues have all contributed to higher fuel costs for city agencies,” said Jonah Allen, a mayoral spokesman. “Despite this challenging environment, we continue to constantly monitor costs and look for efficiencies, in line with the mayor’s fiscally responsible approach.”

Adams has announced plans to cut 855 vehicles from the fleet during the next fiscal year beginning July 1.

He also exclusively told The Post in January he wants to slash the fleet to a “bare bones minimum,” which includes dropping it to at least levels seen during Michael Bloomberg’s time as mayor nearly a decade ago, when it was under 26,000 vehicles.