COEUR d'ALENE — To plow or not to plow is a question local government can't ask when the snow starts to fly.

In the interest of public safety, many agencies throughout Kootenai County are tasked with ensuring roads are plowed and de-iced. As the snow starts to pile up, so too does the price tag associated with keeping roads plowed — sometimes forcing the agencies to cut their maintenance budgets when nice weather arrives.

COEUR d’ALENE

"Not plowing is not an option and we as a city will never go there," said Tim Martin, Coeur d'Alene street and engineering services director. "We will continue to provide quality service, and look for ways to meet budget needs."

Coeur d'Alene, Martin said, does not have a catch-all "winter budget" like some other cities. But Martin provided The Press with a breakdown of some of the individual costs associated with snow plowing, beginning with the in-house labor used to operate the plows. This winter, the city budgeted $14,500 toward overtime expenses associated with plowing and, according to Martin, has already exceeded that. It has spent $15,800.

The streets department budgets $109,000 annually for fuel. Martin said in December alone, the department spent $20,000 on fuel and lubes.

To date, $21,000 has been spent on de-icer products and Martin said $12,000 was budgeted. But, he added, the number is skewed because other communities purchase de-icer from Coeur d'Alene and those communities have not been billed yet.

LAKES HIGHWAY DISTRICT

At the Lakes Highway District, where 16 employees cover 600 lane miles in the northeast corner of Kootenai County, Director Eric Shanley said Lakes spends an average of $700,000 annually on labor, materials, equipment and repairs associated with snow plowing. To date, Shanley said the district has spent $352,000 and there is a very real fear that continued heavy snowfall could push the district above yearly averages.

"A bigger winter could potentially take money from our summer maintenance budget," Shanley said, noting the district spends about $3 million a year on road maintenance efforts. "Thankfully, winter comes first so our priority budget-wise is always keeping the roads clear and the public safe."

EASTSIDE HIGHWAY DISTRICT

The Eastside Highway District maintains 281 roads totaling 239 lane miles in Kootenai, Shoshone and Benewah counties. According to Supervisor John Pankratz, the district budgets $75,000 a year for products used in snow removal. So far this year, the district has spent $30,039, which does not include labor, fuel and equipment costs.

IDAHO TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT

Jerry Wilson, the operations manager for District 1 of the Idaho Transportation Department, told The Press Monday his office initially purchased 19,500 tons of road salt and 1,700 tons of kiln-dried salt used to make brine. However, snowfall has been so heavy in the district, it had to purchase an additional 7,200 tons of road salt to maintain state highways and interstates in Idaho’s five northern counties.

The total cost of all the salt was $2.25 million.

SCHOOL DISTRICTS

Kootenai County school districts are also responsible for plowing school parking lots and keeping other areas clear of snow. At the Lakeland Joint School District, Assistant Superintendent Lisa Sexton said for the first time they have contracted two companies to do plowing, with Sexton adding the maintenance department previously did all of the plowing.

"This put a huge burden on the department because they would begin working at midnight and would go home at 8 a.m., leaving the maintenance department without a staff during the day," Sexton said. "We are finding that contracting for this service has been beneficial in that our maintenance department can continue to deal with day-to-day issues that arise in the winter more efficiently and effectively."

Since the district decided to change its plowing practices after the budgeting process, Sexton said it is unclear how much it will spend this year. The district, she added, has not received any invoices from the contracted companies yet.

The Coeur d'Alene School District handles snow plowing internally through its maintenance department, with District Finance Director Brian Wallace telling The Press this year's snow removal efforts are still within budget. If the costs associated with plowing become too high, Wallace said the district would hold off some of its scheduled summer maintenance projects to stay within budget.

"We will continue plowing to provide safe access to our facilities," Wallace added.

Post Falls School District Superintendent Jerry Keane said they hire contractors to plow the district's parking lots, and have internal staff handle sidewalks and smaller plowing projects. The district, he added, budgeted $25,000 for plowing efforts, but the snowfall dictates the final amount spent.

"In most years we meet our budget or are below it," Keane said. "Maybe not this year though, with the way things are going."