Rising fuel prices taking a bite out of Norwich coffers

Luke Edwards, Post Correspondent

Just like many homes and businesses, the rising cost of oil is being felt at Norwich town hall.

In a financial update to council at the Sept. 22 meeting, staff highlighted an increase of more than $50,000 the township spent on fuel through August 2026, compared to the same period in 2025. Norwich surpassed $200,000 in fuel costs in the time frame this year, and were under $150,000 through August 2025.

Gas and diesel prices have been rising alongside rising crude oil prices since the U.S. and Israel attacks on Iran earlier this year led to Iran responding by closing the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping lane for oil.

“Of course, when we did the budget that was before the price had a substantial increase, and diesel is probably a major factor in there,” said Treasurer James Johnson.

Despite the increase to fuel costs, “there are no significant variances that staff are aware of from regular business,” the report said. There were a few other overages, including $41,500 in the vehicle maintenance budget due to an engine replacement for a grader previously identified, $60,000 for materials and supplies in the grading budget as a result of last year’s nasty winter, and $8,000 for the arena budget as a result of fire code orders.

On the bright side, a tender for painting at the arena came in significantly below staff estimates. The winning business submitted a bid for just over $34,000, while staff had budgeted to spend up to $120,000.

Staff said they were just as surprised as council about the bid, which convinced them to do some extra research.

“We did check references on the low bid because the low bid was so low. And all of the references we checked said ‘we were really concerned because the bid was so low, but they did brilliant work so you should go for it,’” said CAO Matt Smith. “So we went for it, and they did brilliant work and now we know how much that costs.”