The last time
A Dec. 19 storm that set a record with 23 inches over a 24-hour period cost the city $3.5 million, according to reports.
Published 20:25, February the 4th, 2010
Budget may come to sledding halt with storm
PHILADELPHIA. Ever wonder what would happen if a city that didn’t have any money budgeted for snow removal got walloped by a snowstorm 12 to 24 inches in strength?
You’re about to live it.
With the second blizzard this winter scheduled to begin dumping snow on the region Friday night — eventually letting up sometime Saturday afternoon — the city surprisingly has no budget for snow removal.
But a spokesman for Mayor Michael Nutter said the city has never had a specific “snow removal” budget and yet the streets are always cleared.
“This is the way it’s been done and while we may have a slightly different strategy, the overarching theme is that the streets will be cleared,” spokesman Luke Butler said yesterday. “There is money that is available.”
For a city with tax revenue that is still spiraling down with every passing month, each snowstorm compounds the budget problems.
