WAILUKU, HI – The Maui County Council gave approval to take $330,000 from county savings to supplement money budgeted for gas and electrical costs, according to the Maui News. Last year, the Department of Public Works temporarily shut down pumps to all non-essential vehicles because it had exceeded its annual fuel budget. Learning from that crisis, Deputy Public Works Director Mike Miyamoto said the county created a supplemental budget. The allocation for gas in the county budget has risen every year for the last three years. Each time the actual spending on gas has outstripped what was budgeted. This year, $705,500 was appropriated, but the county expects to actually spend $865,500 on gas. Older vehicles are being replaced by newer, more fuel-efficient models, which could help ease the budget situation in the future. Dealing with the same issue, state legislators are moving on a bill to require state departments to purchase more energy-efficient vehicles.