The prices at the pump continue to rise, and now they're taking a toll on the Lincoln City Budget.

The City of Lincoln will be paying nearly $1 million more than budgeted for the previous fiscal year.

City officials blame the high price of gas for the increased costs.

But unlike many consumers who can get by with much less gas, city operations rely on oil for their daily duties.

That's a fact that's costing the City of Lincoln much more than planned for.

It's a reality that's affecting almost everyone.

Now, the high price of gasoline and diesel is even affecting the City of Lincoln.

"The overall impact just from the recent increase has been about $900,000," said Dan Marvin, city council member.

$900,000 more than the city had budgeted.

"You try to plan for everything, but obviously in this case, you plan for much more modest increases," said Mayor Chris Beutler.

The City of Lincoln uses nearly 1.2 million gallons of gasoline and diesel every year.

Since the last budget, the city has added an additional $511,000 to the budget, to cover the increasing prices at the pump.

"In December when we started doing the budget, figuring out the budget, gas was 83 cents lower than it is right now, regular gas. Diesel is $1.12 more expensive. We have to find that equivalent amount of money either by increasing revenues or making cuts," said Beutler.

Making cuts isn't as easy with programs that are needed.

"The bus system consumes a lot of diesel fuel. It's very high. When we send snowplows out, we have public works trucks going around. That's diesel fuel. Squad cars, police and fire go out on calls, and they're using gasoline or diesel fuel," said Marvin.

Obviously those operations need to keep going," said Beutler.

To keep the operations going, this next budget may reflect higher estimates for gas, to help get the $6 million gap back in check.

"We're certainly in the process of getting our ongoing expenditures in line with our ongoing revenue, so we're bringing the budget back into balance," said Beutler.

Mayor Beutler says the police department has already required all patrol vehicles be turned off whenever stationary. Soon, other departments will be practicing the same measures.

He says so far this has already resulted in considerable savings for the city.