Two years of little snowfall has lowered the Town of Black Diamond snow removal costs, yet residents may not see a direct impact on their taxes.
The Town of Black Diamond puts money it doesn’t spend on snow removal into a reserve fund to prepare for the potential of a heavy snowfall year.
The Town budgeted $57,000 for snow removal this year, having spent $13,300 so far. It set aside $58,000 last year, when it spent about $16,000 and put almost $42,000 into its snow clearing reserve.
“Whatever money that hasn’t been used at the end of the year goes into a snow clearing reserve,” said Joanne Irwin, chief administrative officer. “That way if we have a huge snowfall we’re able to deal with it without having a shock to the tax base.”
This is precisely what occurred in 2014 when the Town of Black Diamond spent $114,000 in snow removal, double what it budgets, forcing the Town to dip into its snow removal reserve fund, said Irwin.
The reserve is usually kept between $100,000 and $150,000, she said.
“We had to call in help for wages,” she said. “It can really add up. That’s why if it’s a situation where our usual resources cannot clear that snow in a safe and efficient manner we have to look to an outside contractor to assist and that’s where the dollars can go up.
“In order to keep the snow removal at the service expectation that the residents and council request that’s what you have to do. Residents directed council that snow clearing is an important function to do.”
Irwin said the Town of Black Diamond budgets $20,000 annually in contracted services for snow removal.
“If we are not able to clear the roads as quickly as the town needs to with our existing staff we have a contingency to hire a contractor,” she said. “When we don’t use that money it transfers back to snow clearing.”
Irwin said, with Mother Nature so hard to predict, the Town never knows from year to year whether it will spend less than its snow removal budget or take money out of reserves.
“Some years it’s more, some years it’s less,” she said. “You can’t predict it. You hope for the best and plan for the worst. The next year could be triple.”
With eight months left in 2016, the Town still has the potential to use up its 2016 snow removal budget, Irwin said.
“If we have a year like 2014 that had a lot of snow removal and goes over budget that will be okay because we cushioned that reserve,” she said. “If we have a surplus we set it aside into reserves so when these unexpected things happen we are ready for them and it’s not a crisis. The money is there to allow us to have that flexibility.”
Irwin said Town council has the ability to use the reserve money for other uses if desired.
“It’s up to council if they had an emergent item and needed to take money out of the snow clearing reserve, but they generally don’t,” she said. “If you have a couple of years where your snow reserve is in good shape, you had a surplus the previous year, they might choose to do something different with that surplus. Some years things break down that you don’t expect to break down.”
The Town of Black Diamond is currently in the process of completing its 2016 budget.
“We are constantly looking at is there a better way of doing something and how do we best use the dollars we have to make sure the residents get the services they want,” she said.
