Even after the streets are cleared and salted, northwest suburbanites will pay a price for all this snow–during the warm months of summer and fall, no less.
With two snowstorms four days apart, suburban public works departments dipped into budgets already decimated by January’s blizzard to pay for round-the-clock plowing and salting.
Some departments that already have spent more than they allotted for snow removal may resort to fewer pothole repairs in the summer, fewer leaf pickups in the fall and other cutbacks that could affect residents.
Also, several northwest suburban school districts that kept students out of class Tuesday are out of makeup days for the year. That means the kids will be paying for winter in June, when the weather’s nice.
Suburbs such as Park Ridge, Des Plaines, Barrington, Mt. Prospect and Elk Grove Village say they have exhausted their snow-removal budgets for the year. To make up for the shortfall, some public works departments will raid reserve accounts. Others have applied to the Federal Emergency Management Agency to recover some of the expense of battling January’s record snowfall.
But a few departments will try to balance the books by scaling back on activities during other parts of the year. Elk Grove Village, for instance, has used up all of its overtime budget of $60,000 for snow removal and probably will end up spending at least $15,000 more before winter is out.
Tom Cech, Elk Grove Village’s public works director, said he may be forced to curtail other services if the area gets another heavy snowfall.
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“We’re going to find the extra money from other accounts within the Public Works Department,” Cech said. “It might come from our spring and summer activities, such as asphalt work, road improvements, resurfacing programs, ditch cleaning and leaf (removal).”
But Cech also said the village has about $25,000 in surplus salt, which could offset any extra expenses. If the village has salt left over, it won’t have to buy as much next fall.
Likewise, Barrington may end up dipping into accounts of other city departments. Assistant Public Works Director Mark Werksman said the two recent storms have put the department at least $10,000 over its $100,000 snow-removal budget.
By far, the most expensive cost of round-the-clock snow removal is paying overtime for drivers. So some departments will make up shortfalls by cutting back on overtime wages later in the year.
“Instead of doing 120 storm-sewer replacements, we might just do 100 because we don’t have the overtime,” said Ken Hari, public works director for Hoffman Estates, which has spent two-thirds of its $585,000 overtime budget so far.
Some northwest suburban school districts decided to cancel classes Tuesday because of concerns that buses would have trouble navigating through snow-packed streets. That means the districts will have to tack on an extra day at the end of their school years.
Some of the 11 communities in Barrington District 220 are surrounded by open fields where drifting snow made clearing roads difficult, said district spokeswoman Debbie Villers.
Also, she said, in such weather, “you have to be concerned about kids standing and waiting for buses.”
But because of the off day Tuesday, the third snow day so far this school year, Barrington-area students will be in school until June 4.
In Elgin District 46, kids also were out of school Tuesday, but now they’ll be in class until June 8.
“The kids could not get to the bus stops,” said spokesman Larry Ascough. “The snow came late, and we had uneven cleaning of highways and streets. We didn’t even have time to plow all the school parking lots.”