[ back ]
As Geauga snows pile up, finances go down
(by Joseph Koziol Jr. - January 26, 2011)
As Geauga snows pile up, finances go down
By JOSEPH KOZIOL JR.
Each year, government officials, like weathermen, take a crack at forecasting.
But their forecasting is of the financial kind, which some say can be as difficult as predicting where the lake-effect snow will dump its load in the area.
"It's hard to do," said Jeff Smock, finance director for the City of Chardon.
It is Mr. Smock's and city Manager David Lelko's job each year to gauge what amount of money will be needed to clean up after Mother Nature. This year, as the city finished its year financially, it had to make an adjustment in its budget to cover that cost.
Mr. Lelko said the difference was a much heavier snowfall this December. In December 2009, the city saw 14 inches. This year, it saw almost 49.5 inches, he said.
"You tell me what the weather is going to be," Mr. Lelko said of the process of trying to predict what each winter will cost.
He said, while the 2009 December was light in Chardon terms, the city was in for a pounding the next two months with 51 inches in January, followed by 58 inches in February.
The city operates its budget on the calendar year, meaning each snow season overlaps one budget to another.
Mr. Smock said it is at best a guess as to how much snow the city will see over the course of a season that generally runs from November through March, although April storms have not been out of the question.
Mr. Smock said he does employ some science in his guesstimate, based on the average for the past four or five years.
But Mother Nature can have a mind of its own, and the city saw a heavy toll in cost this year.
In 2008, the city spent $52,700 in overtime to handle snow duties. The cost was $54,900 the following year and $51,500 the next. But overtime this past year was in the neighborhood of $72,000, Mr. Smock said.
While Chardon's average snowfall is 107.58 for a season, its weather has been anything but average lately. Since 2002, the city has exceeded that average with snowfalls of 126.25, 132.75, 157,58, 135.3, 148.17, 124,36, 122.85 and 123.2 inches.
While snowfall does cost the city, Mr. Smock said, the most expensive of all storms are freezing rains.
Steven Borawski, the city's street superintendent, said the city is already about three-quarters through its average salt use for the season with 88.6 inches already recorded.
Geauga County Engineer Robert Philips said his department also has seen a heavy toll on finances this year. Before January even had begun, he said, his crews already had used half of what is used on average for the entire season.
Most might suspect that it is the heavy, foot or more, snowfalls that cost the most. Mr. Phillips said the fact is that those 2 or 3 inches that fall that can cost the most.
While trucks may spend more time on the road during heavy storms, it is the cost of materials during the lighter snowfalls that can cost.
Mr. Borawski agreed, saying crews don't apply as much salt during the big storms, because it is covered up quickly and then plowed off the road when the plows make a second run in the area.
[ back ]
