City Saving Big Bucks On 'Brown Christmas'

Got the no-snow blues? The City of Minneapolis' Public Works department sure doesn't. It looks set to save $1 million or more by Jan. 1, according to department Director Steve Kotke, thanks to the near-absence of snow this month.

"It's very welcome after the winter we had last year," Kotke said.

In last year's budget-planning process, the department had planned for three snow emergencies after averaging those from the previous five years. Instead, the city had to declare eight over the course of last winter. Each costs the city a little less than $500,000.

If the weather holds, instead of being $1.5 million over budget, Kotke said the department was looking at around $500,000 in overruns. With the city's budget under strain from state aid cuts, every little bit helps.

With all their free time, Kotke said the city's plow-drivers have, like good Minnesotans, been able to get ahead on chores left over from the fall. Hauling away this fall's street-sweeping waste would, for example, have ordinarily languished for much of the winter—much like a disorganized basement.