Last winter was not only cold, but expensive.
Montgomery County spent about $32 million to remove snow and ice from county roads, well over the $8 million that had been budgeted.
In a memo to the County Council, County Executive Ike Leggett wrote that the county experienced 27 weather events involving snow and ice and received a total accumulation of 46.6 inches of snow.
Leggett asked the council to approve a supplemental budget request to add about $16.2 million to the budget for the Department of Transportation and another $8 million to spending for the Department of General Services. The requests, plus the $8 million already budgeted would pay off the snow removal tab. The two departments handled the bulk of the personnel and operating costs involved in removing the snow.
During the winter of 2013-2014, the county spent about $28 million on snow removal, about $18.1 million more than was budgeted. The costliest winter for the county was during “Snowmaggedon” in 2010 when the county spent $64 million on snow removal. This past winter was the second most expensive for the county.
