LOWVILLE — Lewis County officials plan to skim nearly $350,000 from departmental budgets to cover higher-than-expected fuel costs.

However, further action likely will need to be taken to cover expenses for diesel and unleaded fuel through the end of the year.

"This resolution covers the shortfall that we currently have," said County Manager David H. Pendergast.

County legislators will vote Tuesday evening on a resolution to transfer $348,401.89 from numerous accounts into the machinery fund.

That amount would supplement the $550,000 budgeted for fuel expenses this year, Mr. Pendergast said.

"The board's whole approach was to close the gap with the current appropriations so they would not, at this time, dip into reserve funds they have to make up the shortfall," he said.

However, with fuel costs for the year likely to come in at least double the budgeted amount, county officials are "reviewing options to control expenses" and may need to dip into reserves eventually, Mr. Pendergast said.

On the bright side, the county's unappropriated fund balance, essentially its savings account for unforeseen expenses, is about $9.5 million, one of its healthiest levels in recent memory.

"The fund balance is in good shape," Mr. Pendergast said.

The county manager also credited County Treasurer Vicki A. Roy for her fiscal management, noting that an increase in the county's bond rating by Standard & Poor's will save a substantial amount on interest payments for the courthouse project.

Rather than just slicing a percentage off each department's budget to cover unexpected fuel costs, Mr. Pendergast and Mrs. Roy recently spent three days reviewing possible cuts with department heads and their financial managers.

"The department heads were more than cooperative in the meetings with Vicki and I," the county manager said. "They understand the issue."

While the proposed cuts should have only a minimal impact on departmental operations, they won't be completely painless, he said.

"These funds that we are taking back from the departments, with their full knowledge, are not monies that we considered fluff in there," Mr. Pendergast said. "We are cutting into their operational costs."

The two pages of proposed fund transfers include amounts ranging from $30,000 from personal services in the treasurer's office and $26,000 and $25,000 for contractual expenses at Office for the Aging and the Board of Legislators office, respectively, down to $10.08 in the vehicles account at code enforcement.

All departments but the Veterans' Services Agency, with an annual budget of only $43,045, would be affected, Mr. Pendergast said.

While the proposed cuts may be difficult, travel by county workers — from sheriff's deputies to highway and Department of Social Services workers — is essential in a rural area, said Legislature Chairman Jack T. Bush, R-Brantingham.

Department heads and contractual agencies also have submitted their 2009 budget proposals, and county officials will review them over the coming months. Department heads have been asked to identify mandated programs and provide stipulations of their administration.

With Gov. David A. Paterson proposing spending cuts at the state level, some non-mandated programs at the local level may need to be dropped as well, Mr. Pendergast said.

"We don't know what the ripple effect is going to be to the counties," he said. "It's a huge concern."

While the New York State Association of Counties plans to provide a county-by-county outlook on the impact of action in Albany, this year is shaping up to have many budgetary unknowns, Mr. Pendergast said.

"It's going to be a tough budget year," he said.