Photo by william couch

The lack of snow this winter may be depressing for those of us who like winter sports or snow days, but local governments certainly aren’t shedding a tear.

According to WTOP, the little snow the region has received thus far means that local jurisdictions are spending less of their snow-removal budgets than they have in the past. In D.C., the Department of Transportation has put out $3.5 million of a $6.2 million budget, while Maryland has spent $24 million of $36 million allocated and Virginia only $19 million of the $55 million that’s set aside for winter prep and cleanup.

To put that in perspective, in December 2009 D.C. had already burned through $4 million of the $6.2 million it budgeted for the 2009-2010 winter, and that was before the big February storms. (The same winter, Virginia and Maryland applied for federal assistance because things got so bad.) Last year, Virginia blew its snow budget by $70 million, even though there was far less snow than the year prior.

Even though this winter is going easy on the region, that doesn’t mean that anyone will be rolling around in tons of extra money, though. Crews still treat roads even if bad weather doesn’t materialize — it’s happened almost a dozen times already — and jurisdictions have to keep a solid supply of salt on hand. Additionally, we’re not yet done with winter — I’ve got my fingers crossed for another snowmageddon.

In related news, yesterday we reported that the D.C. Council tabled legislation that would beef up enforcement of an existing sidewalk-shoveling law. If we do get any significant snow this winter, the city again won’t have any means to force people to clear their walks.