BALTIMORE -- Area governments have changed some operations amid gas prices topping $3 per gallon.

"We have the same problems that a homeowner has," said Raymond Wacks, the chief of Baltimore City's office of the budget and management research.

WBAL-TV 11 News reporter Kate Amara reported Baltimore City's fleet of 5,500 vehicles. Wacks said the city tried to aim high.

Video: Gas Prices Boost Budgets

"We went out on a limb a few months ago and budgeted $3 a gallon for gasoline," Wacks said. "We thought we were going way far out on a limb and we hope we have enough money in the budget to sustain that."

If the city runs out of money, finance officials may have to restructure the 2007 fiscal year budget proposal -- again. City officials said the proposal allows for some breathing room and the city pays about 25 cents below retail.

In neighboring Howard County, officials budgeted for gas at a cost of $3.20 per gallon in the 2007 budget proposal -- which adds up to an additional $1.6 million from the year before, representing a 50-percent increase. If gas prices go higher than that, Howard County will have to dip into its contingency account.

In Baltimore County, officials have an emergency surplus if it comes to that. Baltimore County officials said the county has locked in gas prices through the end of the 2006 calendar year and locked in diesel through the end of October. Still, the county has increased its 2007 fuel budget by an additional $1.9 million -- an increase of 37.5 percent.

"(Gas prices are) having a big impact on us, just like everybody else," Wacks said.

Also Wednesday, Gov. Bob Ehrlich sent the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency a letter Wednesday, requesting that they waive the requirement of using reformulated gasoline in Maryland. Ehrlich cited that a temporary waiver would bring more fuel types to Maryland.

"I am seeking a federal waiver as a precautionary step to ease the rise in gasoline prices and to help ensure that Marylanders have access to adequate supplies of gasoline," Ehrlich said. "A waiver in the urban areas of the state will allow refineries, terminals and distributors the flexibility to provide more fuels to suppliers and ultimately the consumer.”

Reformulated gas is used in metropolitan the Baltimore and Washington, D.C., areas, as well as other portions of the state.

Amara reported electricity, natural gas and heating oil prices have also made a big impact on budget proposals, resulting in increases ranging from 12 to 39 percent more than last year.

The budgets for Baltimore and Howard counties, and Baltimore City, have not yet been approved by their respective councils.

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