Figures released to Xpress yesterday by the city of Asheville reveal that the last round of winter storms exacted a toll. The annual snow budget is almost exhausted, and the city may have lost over $11,000 in revenues it would normally receive from parking garages.
Photo by David Forbes
So far during this fiscal year, the city has spent $184,600 on preparing for and cleaning up from winter weather. That total includes $121,000 in materials such as sand and salt as well as $71,600 in additional overtime. The city’s total winter weather budget for this year is $189,000.
In addition, the city opened all parking decks to the public for free throughout the week in an attempt to get vehicles off the road as crews cleared snow and waited for warmer temperatures. While it’s impossible to get an exact estimate of how much potential income the city lost by doing so, parking deck revenues for the same week last January were $11,487.
However, city spokesperson Dawa Hitch noted that “funds budgeted for activities that cannot be performed in inclement weather, such as pouring concrete, are not expended when we have these significant weather events. Using that case as an example, there is the possibility that those expenses may balance out by the end of the winter season.”
— David Forbes, senior news reporter
Clearly, the weather is merely doing the bidding of the plow industry.