Stringer: Average Better for N.Y.C. Snow Removal Costs

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Light snow seasons and heavy snow seasons are significantly more expensive than average snow seasons on a cost-per-inch basis, according to New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer.

Since the winter of 2003, the cost of clearing New York City streets of snow and ice has averaged $1.8 million per inch of snowfall, but that amount has varied considerably by year, according to the analysis Stringer's office released Thursday.

"Snow removal costs the city millions of dollars annually, but it turns out that average winters give us the best bang for the buck on that front," Stringer said. "The total amount that the city pays to plow our streets grows with each storm, but counterintuitively, it's a lot more expensive per inch when we get a little, or a lot, of snow in a season. Consider the old adage of $1 million per inch debunked."

New York City received 10 to 12 inches of snow Monday and Tuesday. Weather forecasters had warned city officials of up to three feet of snowfall.

The city budgets annually for snow removal based on the average amount it spent over the previous five years, according to Stringer. How much the city spends, however, varies by snowfall amounts during the winter season.

Annual costs for ice and snow removal range from $25.4 million to $130.7 million and averaged $55.3 million from fiscal 2003 to 2014, said Stringer. For the same period, annual snowfall totals averaged 35.9 inches per year, with a high of 61.5 inches in fiscal 2011 and a low of 6.8 inches in fiscal 2012.

Stringer's office analyzed ice and snow removal using personal services such as employee overtime, hourly wages for temporary workers, and other-than-personal services such as payments to snow-removal contractors, material costs, equipment, fuel, maintenance and training.

Regardless of snowfall totals, the city must be ready for any eventuality, said Stringer, which accounts for higher costs for winters with little snowfall. The sweet spot of optimal per inch costs lands at about 43 inches, he said. However, if snowfall exceeds the band within 24 and 56 inches per season, history shows that costs begin to rise again on a per inch basis due to the sheer scale of the task at hand.

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