WASHINGTON — Montgomery County has exceeded its budget for clearing snow by about $19 million this winter — and that’s not counting the St. Patrick’s Day snow storm that closed schools and local government offices.
This winter, Montgomery County’s cost of clearing snow from the roadways has hit $27.5 million, not including Monday’s snowfall. The county budgeted roughly $8.5 million for snow removal this season.
Officials with Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett’s office say some of the expense could be offset by aid from the federal and state governments.
Leggett was asked about the impact of the snow storms on the county budget as he unveiled his $4.97 billion operating budget for FY 2015 Monday.
At that announcement, he joked that when snow falls, he no longer sees white fluffy flakes: “I see dollar signs.”
“Believe me, we’ve shed a lot of dollars,” he said.
When he first took office, Leggett says he established a budget targeting weather emergencies.
“Clearly that’s not enough for the weather we’ve had thus far — we’re way over budget at this point in time,” he said.
Leggett said it’s likely he’ll have to ask the county council for money in a supplemental budget, which will be paid out of the county’s reserves.
WTOP’s Kate Ryan contributed to this report. Follow @kateryanWTOP and @WTOP on Twitter and WTOP on Facebook.
