RALEIGH, NC – Wake County Fleet Director Thomas Kuryla is having to be creative due to rising fuel costs, according to www.wral.com.

Even after buying gas in bulk, their prices are climbing as well. Wake County has 860 vehicles to fill up, half of them belonging to the sheriff’s office. Kuryla is looking to alternative fuels and fuel consumption to curb fuel costs.

Twenty-six percent of the fleet uses alternative fuel, such as ethanol. The county wants more hybrid cars, but they are more expensive to buy.

The county’s sheriff’s office 2007-08 budget allocated approximately $804,000 for fuel. The proposed 2008-09 budget increases that by a little over $161,000.

And the City of Raleigh has almost two and half times as many vehicles as Wake County. It is trying to buy more hybrids, too. The city expects to pay 44 percent more for gas next year. That adds up to about $1.7 million. For that amount of money, it could hire 60 to 70 more people.

The county, meanwhile, is looking to spend about $300,000 more for gas next year. Overall, the county’s entire budget went from about $2.02 million to $2.38 million, according to www.wral.com.