Tulsa Public Works: Next Snow Storm Could Cripple Budget

By Jeffrey Smith, The News On 6

TULSA, OK -- With more winter weather headed to the Tulsa area, Tulsa Public Works Department is planning for the worst.

The department reports another snow storm this winter would cripple their budget for the current fiscal year.

No salt to clear the streets and no asphalt to fix the potholes -- that scenario is a lot closer to reality than you might think.

It's a case of robbing Peter to pay Paul, or in this case, dipping into the pothole fund to buy more salt.

City leaders say it's a lose-lose situation.

12/28/2009 Related story: Last Week's Blizzard Has Big Impact On Tulsa's Snow Removal Budget

It's a rough new year for Tulsa drivers. Weeks after the Christmas blizzard, hundreds of potholes around town are still giving drivers headaches.

Tulsa street crews are working as fast as they can, but they're in a race against time.

"Well, we have considered asking people to take their salt shakers out and salt the roads for us. It's getting pretty bad," said Director of Public Works Charles Hardt.

The city started the winter with 10,000 tons of salt. More than half of that is gone. Not only that, they budgeted $65,000 for winter overtime pay. Public Works already spent twice as much money on overtime as they budgeted.

That's because the cleanup from the blizzard started on Christmas Day. So for the crews who worked 12-hour shifts, it was holiday pay and overtime pay.

"We're just broke," said Charles Hardt.

With three more months of winter to go, the city bought 3,000 more tons of salt. They paid for it by dipping heavily into the asphalt fund that goes toward the pothole patrols. There's now only $125,000 left for pothole repairs.

12/30/2009 Related story:Drivers Can Help The City Of Tulsa's Pothole Patrol