N.B. “probably over” winter maintenance budget, says finance minister

FREDERICTON – Winter is costing the province of New Brunswick more than they bargained for this year.

Finance and transportation minister Roger Melanson believes this winter will be a tough one on the province’s budget.

“It’s early to tell, but we certainly can assume we’ll probably be over the budget in the winter maintenance program just based on the fact that it’s been a brutal winter,” he said.

But it’s a cost governments can’t really cut back on, otherwise the province would be buried.  November and December were mild, but since mid-January, hundreds of centimeters of snow have fallen, enough to make provincial and municipal officials shiver in their boots.

“We’re far over our average in February,” said city of Fredericton finance chair, Bruce Grandy. “I hope March comes in like a lamb and stays that way.”

Moncton’s snow budget is $5.3 million annually, and the city said if winter continues to hit as hard as it has, they will have to dip into their reserves.

Fredericton’s budget is just over $2.3 million and they’ll also have to find money elsewhere if the snow continues.

But it’s been a really tough year for Saint John, too. The city has $5 million budgeted, an amount they’ve already spent.

As of earlier this week, over 30,000 truckloads of snow have been removed from Moncton and Saint John city streets.

“We can certainly understand the level of work that had to be done to try and get rid of the snow, our department is working very hard,” said Melanson.

Saint John officials are investigating any opportunities that may exist for disaster financial assistance during the period of the local state of emergency.

“We have another storm coming Sunday so that doesn’t help the situation. We’re trying to make our way through February and March and then we’ll have a better idea of where we are,” Grandy said.