Snow Will Create Budget Shortages, But Officials 'Not Worried'

Local municipalities report that "things are going well" in terms of their budgets for snow removal and the overtime required to do so despite the fact that the area has seemingly had a continual barrage of storms and precipitation in recent weeks.

That doesn't mean that town officials aren't keeping a close eye on the numbers, though, especially in North Hampton, which is less than a year removed from a series of overtime overruns that forced the town to take special action to prevent a budget deficit.

Town Administrator Paul Apple said North Hampton and its Public Works Department are "in pretty good shape right now." The budget is "tight" and $11,049.45, or roughly half of the overtime budget, has already been expended.

This could — and will likely — set the stage for another spring of transfers, cuts and restrictions in other areas of the budget to compensate, although Apple said he doesn't expect many surprises or the need to "go full throttle" with reining in overtime like the town did last year. 

"It’s the same problem and so I think it’s almost the same budget and I think the problems are pretty much the same [as last year]," said Apple. "I think we’re going to have to tighten up.

"If we continue to have snowfall like we had [last week] — well-spaced during the day, doesn't fall on weekends — I'm not worried. I'm not as worried unless we have storm after storm after storm like we did last February. That would be a problem. At some point we have to be more conscious of the budget as a whole, and I think we're definitely entering that season."

Overtime will be the big topic of discussion at a regular department heads' meeting on Wednesday, according to Apple.

North Hampton hopes to get a little overtime relief through the fiscal year 2015 budget, which is $6,129,130 and was recently approved by the North Hampton Budget Committee. The budget, which must be approved at town meeting and would begin this summer, is only $5,906 higher than the default budget and is $270,588 higher than the current budget, but Apple said there are slight increases — roughly $6,000 and $10,000 — in the respective police and fire overtime lines.

In Hampton, Public Works Director Keith Noyes said the portions of his budget related to snow removal are "in good shape." The town operates on a calendar year budget, and Noyes guessed that only "15 percent" of 2014's snow budget has been expended so far.

That said, Noyes said he expects to be over on the winter overtime and the overall winter maintenance accounts for 2013. The numbers for 2013 aren't yet final, though, and Noyes said he won't know how much they will be over until around Jan. 15. 

None of the December or January storms have been among the "bigger ones" in recent years, which means the areas of the budget most impacted are the overtime lines because even mid-sized storms like last week's have the ability to force plow drivers to be behind the wheel for 19 to 20 hours at a time.

"That's always an issue and a problem, but they stepped up to the plate and I appreciate it," said Noyes, adding that the Hampton Police Department was a "huge help" in alleviating the strain on his employees last week because officers spearheaded the flooding-related roadblocks at Hampton Beach.