The Cost of the Season's Snow in Cortlandt

The Town of Cortlandt is very proud of its highway surplus and fiscally conservative spending, reports Town Supervisor Linda Puglisi. And that surplus is about to come in handy as the town teeters on its budget lines, about to dip into the highway funds in order to make it through this season and the beginning of next.

Puglisi emphasizes that this has been the worst snowstorm season that she has seen in her 20 years serving the town as supervisor. “It has also been the worst, budget-wise,” she said.

Snowstorms and wintry mixes are so expensive because they require hundreds of tons of salt per storm; tens of thousands of dollars in overtime for Department of Environmental Services employees to work through nights and weekends, thousands of dollars paid to contractors to handle bigger and more unique jobs; and thousands for maintenance of vehicles, parts and other miscellaneous needs.

Salt and overtime account for the largest chunk of storm costs. The town has spent $325,000 of its budgeted $350,000 on salt for the year 2011. Overtime has cost $225,000 so far this year, with only $5,000 left in the budget for the season. Department of Environmental Services Director Jeff Coleman says that overnight storms are easier to manage than daytime storms because there are fewer cars on the road, which allows his department to do its job more easily, without interference.

However, overnight storms cost the town more because its workers are paid time-and-a-half when they work outside of the regular 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. workday. They are also paid time-and-a-half on Saturdays, and double-time on holidays and Sundays.

In 2010, the town planned to spend $685,000 for snowstorms and spent $750,243, which is $65,243 over budget.  The overrun was covered by the funds reserved in the Highway Department for such circumstances.

“There is $2 million in the Highway surplus and $1 million appropriated in the 2011 budget for drainage and paving work,” said Supervisor Puglisi. “Both highway lines can be used to transfer additional monies into our snow removal line, which in past years has been sufficient to cover winter storms.”

This year so far, after 10 snowstorms by Feb. 4, the town has used $623,152 of its budgeted $700,000 for the year. One or two more medium to large storms can push the town over budget and again force it to dip into its highway surplus to make it through this season, and through the beginning of next.

"And we still have three weeks left in February and the month of March," said Cortlandt Town Comptroller Glenn Cestaro.

See the charts below for a breakdown of the Town of Cortlandt’s snow budget.

2010 Budget

(Actual and budgeted amounts)

Item

 Actual

 Budgeted

Salt

 $314,477.00

 $350,000.00

Overtime

 $242,947.00

 $230,000.00

Contractors

 $169,478.00

 $  75,000.00

Parts & Misc.

 $  23,341.00

 $  25,000.00

Total

 $750,243.00

 $685,000.00

2011 Budget

(Actual and budgeted amounts)

Item

 Actual - YTD

 Budgeted

Salt

 $325,000.00

 $350,000.00

Overtime

 $225,000.00

 $230,000.00

Contractors

 $  63,000.00

 $  75,000.00

Parts & Misc.

 $  10,152.00

 $  10,000.00

Total

 $623,152.00

 $700,000.00