The City of Quesnel finally got a break from mother nature when it comes to the annual snow removal budget.
Director of Finance Kari Bolton says it came in at just over a million dollars ($1,010,000) for 2021, which was about 160 thousand dollars under budget.
She says that, in addition to 165 thousand dollars that was collected in 2021 for future years that go over budget, brings the snow reserve total up to roughly 325 thousand dollars.
Here, Bolton talks about what portion snow removal is in relation to the overall operating budget.
“For our 2022 draft operating budget, snow removal is just over 6% of our general operating expenses before transfers to reserves. The whole public works department is about 35% of the operating budget with street maintenance, street lights, parks and playgrounds being the other big areas besides snow.”
2017 was the last year that the snow budget came in under budget.