Town, School District Switch Up Oil Purchase Process

With the budget season just around the corner, the Town of Tolland and Tolland school district are looking for new ways to save money. 

One of the new approaches the town has successfully pursued is to purchase its fuel oil for municipal buildings by locking in early with Dime Oil at $3.01 per gallon.

The town council authorized Town Manager Steven Werbner to sign a contract with Dime Oil at its December 11 meeting. At the meeting, Werbner explained that the town and school district usually wait to bid for fuel oil through the Capitol Region Council of Governments in the spring. He said that, generally, the fuel number budgeted in December or January has risen by the time bidding occurs in March, so it would make sense to try to save by purchasing earlier in the year.

Dime Oil has been providing Tolland's fuel oil for a number of years, Werbner said. For the current fiscal year, Tolland is paying $3.38 per gallon, according to Director of Administrative Services Michael Wilkinson.

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Tolland's school board took a slightly different approach to locking in this year. The board asked Superintendent William Guzman to get quotes from three oil companies, including Dime Oil. Guzman said that Burke Oil offered a higher price, and that Harbor Petroleum chose not to bid, leading the district to also sign with Dime Oil.

Tolland paid a recent low of $1.65 in the 2010 fiscal year, which Wilkinson attributes to the economic downturn at the time. In 2009, Tolland paid $4.11 per gallon.