The school district had to add a significant amount of money to its snow removal budget this year when it passed its final budget at this week’s public meeting, which came to a surprise to exactly nobody in the room.
“We have exceeded the snow clearing budget by a long shot this year,” secretary-treasurer Kevin Patrick told the board in presenting the final budget for approval, which garnered understanding laughter from the board after the massive dump of snow earlier this month. “So what was typically a rarely-used token $5,000 in the budget is now $100,000 this year. We are trying to make sure there are supports in place to deal with what is sure to be an increased expense. We hope $100,000 will be enough.”
Thankfully, that additional cost can be absorbed thanks to additional funding from various sources this year – most notably a sudden, unexpected spike in enrolment – along with savings in various areas.