Gas prices have been skyrocketing across the nation, and in Michigan, this has led to the Isabella County Sheriff's Department reevaluating the way they take 9-11 calls as they have used an astronomical amount of budgeted funds for gas.
“Isabella County Sheriff’s Office is feeling the pain at the pump as well,” Isabella County Sheriff Michael Main said in a recent post on the department’s Facebook page. “We have exhausted what funds were budgeted for fuel with several months to go before the budget reset."
The post continued: "I have instructed the deputies to attempt to manage whatever calls are acceptable over the phone. This would be non-in-progress calls, non-life-threatening calls, calls that do not require evidence collection or documentation. Deputies will continue to provide patrols to all areas of the county, they will respond to those calls that need to be managed in person. Any call that is in progress with active suspects will involve a response by the deputies. I want to assure the community that safety is our primary goal, and we will continue to respond to those types of calls.”
In Michigan, the Gas Misery Index has been reported to be $1,185 and $1,005 nationally. This report tracks how much more or less the average American consumer spends on gas annually. It is data compiled from gas prices through the American Automobile Association (AAA), Average fuel efficiency data from the U.S. Dept. of Energy and average miles driven from Metromile. The national average price of gas in January 2021 when President Joe Biden entered office was $2.33.
As of June 11, the national average was $5.004 per gallon and it was even higher in Michigan, sitting at 5.223 and climbing, according to AAA. In Michigan last month gas was $4.353 and a year ago it was $3.159. According to a report by Click On Detroit, the price in Isabella County is about $5.18 per gallon.
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