AUGUSTA – Mainers who plan to do business at their city halls or town offices this winter should bundle up in anticipation of a chilly reception.

Geoff Herman, state and federal relations director for the Maine Municipal Association, said a recent survey of 89 municipalities indicated serious concerns about the impact of rising fuel costs on local budgets.

“I wouldn’t say there’s a sense of panic,” Herman said, “but they understand it’s going to be a tough winter that will call for cooler buildings, more controls on the heating of the buildings along with the curtailment of some level of services.”

In addition to lowering thermostats, some communities indicated they may have to limit their snowplowing activities while others are contemplating reducing police patrol mileage.

“That’s not one that we like to advertise to the criminal world, and it would obviously differ depending on the size of the town, but some towns may limit their patrols,” Herman said Friday.

During a recent presentation before the Legislature’s Appropriations Committee when lawmakers were updated on how municipalities are preparing for winter expenses, Herman described the MMA survey, conducted in the first half of September, as “statistically valid.” Eighty percent of the responding communities said increased fuel costs are having immediate impacts on their budgets while others expect to adapt to rising prices at some point during their budget cycle.

The municipalities rated public works expenses as the expense of highest priority of those affected by higher gasoline and diesel fuel costs, followed by public safety demands, heating of public buildings and general assistance requests. Communities that didn’t expect significant increases, Herman said, tended to be smaller towns with contracted plowing services, locked-in oil contracts and no local police departments.

“About two-thirds of the municipalities believe that their budgets will be busted because of the energy issues, and only 33 percent believe they can stay within their budgets,” Herman said. “I think it’s safe to assume that those who don’t think their budgets are going to be broken are going to be making the most significant changes in their service delivery.”

Fifty-four percent of the survey’s respondents expected to make “some significant changes” in the services they deliver. In addition to scaled-back snowplowing and reductions in police patrols, Herman said the cities and towns are doing a lot of building retrofits by increasing amounts of insulation, caulking inefficient windows and doors, and installing thermostats with timers.

“Some may consider a four-day week [for some buildings], so there could be some building shutdowns … libraries could be open less,” Herman said.

Rather than a “wholesale change in service,” municipalities can be expected to retrench in small ways as they respond to rising energy costs. Herman said that, at the moment, energy conservation measures are the first means of coping for municipal governments, adding that exploring new forms of alternative energy solutions is not a top priority for most.

“When it came to planned capital purchases for alternative energy, about 78 percent said they’re just not there yet,” he said.