Kingston faces $3.1M snow clearing deficit after extreme winter

A relentless winter has left a deep freeze on the City of Kingston’s budget, with snow-clearing operations running $3.1 million over budget.

City council will review the year-end financial report Tuesday night, detailing the financial toll of an exceptionally busy season marked by frequent storms that drove up costs for plowing, salting and snow removal.

“This winter was really, really quite extreme,” said Karen Santucci, Kingston’s director of public works and solid waste. “We didn’t have any days that we weren’t actually doing winter control work.”

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To keep up with the demand, crews and equipment had to be redirected from other municipal duties. Planned road projects were delayed and park maintenance was put on hold.

“We didn’t have time to do any of that this winter that we normally would do,” Santucci said.

The constant operations took a heavy toll on resources, especially as the season dragged on.

“We got into February, we were spending extensive amounts of time removing snow from snow banks all across the city,” Santucci added.

The redirection of resources, combined with nearly $200,000 in fuel savings, helped offset a portion of the overruns. However, the public works department still finished the year with a net deficit of nearly $1.7 million, driven almost entirely by winter operations.

On a smaller scale, a winter de-icing pilot project did come in under budget, returning about $32,000 to city reserves.

The freezing temperatures weren’t entirely a financial drain for the municipality. The city’s gas utility generated a surplus of more than $900,000, driven by an 11 per cent spike in consumption as residents cranked the heat to stay warm.