Snowstorm has LI officials digging their pockets

The snowstorm that virtually paralyzed Long Island Wednesday has local officials digging deep into their pockets to pay for road clearing, even as more snowfall may be on the horizon.

Suffolk County allocated a snow removal budget of $2.7 million for 2010, but had to borrow some money from that pot to help cover the cost of December's blizzard, a $1.7-million storm for the county.

County spokesman Mark Smith said the price tag for Wednesday's daylong storm will be roughly $1.1 million, leaving only $200,000 to $300,000 in Suffolk's snow removal budget for the year.

Smith and other officials with slim operating margins in their snow budgets said the public shouldn't worry. If a government blows its snow budget, ways are always found to pay for needed road clearing.

"You've got to have the roads safe," said Glenn Jorgensen, Smithtown's highway superintendent, "so expense really is not the bottom line."

Jorgensen and other officials are still tallying the cost of the storm, but it appeared clear Thursday that for most governments the numbers won't match those of the December blizzard, which struck on a weekend and required that heavy overtime be paid.

In Oyster Bay, a "very, very rough" cost estimate for this week's storm is $500,000, said town spokeswoman Marta Kane. Because a full day of plowing took place during regular work hours, Kane said Oyster Bay expects to spend less than the $522,000 the December blizzard cost.

With overtime a key escalator of the cleanup cost after snowstorms, officials are watching the possible development of a weather system that could bring snow to the Island on Monday, Presidents Day, on which workers would get overtime.

"If we could time these things, it would be better for everybody," Kane said. "Mother Nature has her own ideas."

Fortunately, Oyster Bay and many other towns on the Island have robust snow removal budgets this early in a new year. Before Wednesday's storm, Oyster Bay, for instance, had about $1.5 million, Hempstead $2.2 million and Islip $850,000.

Combining reserve funds and its snow budget, Huntington reported having $3.2 million on hand this year for storm cleanup before Wednesday's snowfall. Town spokesman A.J. Carter said the recent storm will be expensive, but he did not expect the cost to exceed the $800,000 spent digging out from the December blizzard.

Apparently, not all governments are affected in the same way.

Nassau County said it spent nearly $900,000 on the recent storm, but only $440,000 on the December blizzard. The reason? A spokeswoman said it took longer for workers to clean up because they had to contend with rush-hour traffic.

Nassau reported having more than $1 million remaining in its snow budget for 2010.