After several dry years in Utah, the heavy snow storms of the last couple of months have depleted some cities' snow-removal budgets.

The Utah County public works department spends close to $100,000 per year on snow removal, and the county surpassed that amount in January. Although roughly the same amount is spent each year, Clyde Naylor, the county's public works director, said the salt and plowing money does not have a specific budget of its own.

"It's in the street-maintenance [budget]," he said. "We are spending more than previous years, obviously. We've run out of salt a couple of times and had to go out and get more."

The county is responsible for snow removal on all unincorporated roads and non-state roads, like Hobble Creek and Provo Canyon roads. Naylor said the mid-level snow in the canyons was much higher than normal this year. Drivers of the county's eight major snow plows have spent a good deal of overtime hours plowing roads this winter.

"Just about every storm, we've had to go overtime," Naylor said.

Although many drivers work overtime in the winter -- snow plows were on the roads at 4 a.m. Friday -- Naylor said the county always plans for the extra hours in the snowy months. Depending on weather conditions, drivers may be on the roads all day long.

"They just watch [the snow] and try to accommodate the public as much as they can," he said. "They'll go out early if they need to and stay out late if they need to."

As a result of the budget deficiency, Naylor said the county may need to forego chip sealing on some roads until another year. Chip sealing is a way to resurface roads to prolong the life of the asphalt, and Naylor said the process is done on different roads in a seven-year rotation. The project may need to wait until another year when there is less snow.

In Orem, there is a separate budget allocation for salt each year, so no street programs will need to be sacrificed, said street section manager Stan Orme. The $60,000 for 2,000 tons of salt has already been used up, but Orme said this will not affect other road projects in the city.

When there have been dry winters for a few years, it is harder to budget for a stormy season. Orme said the city's salt budget is compiled from an average of past years, which have not had as much snow.

"It's kind of the law of averages, you know?" he said. "Usually that amount is enough for the average year."

Money may be moved from one area to another to accommodate for more salt, but Orme said he does not expect any adverse effects. The city will need to watch the snowfall in the years to come, but he said he does not think it will need a budget increase next year.

In Provo, the $35,000 budget accounts for about 1,500 tons of salt, but the city passed that mark in mid-January. Deputy Public Works Director Scott Peppler said the city is no different from others in the state, as most have probably exceeded their marks as well. However, the city is also close to its overtime budget, Peppler said.

While the city may have exceeded its snow-removal budget, Peppler said he is not concerned with not having enough money. Money can be reappropriated from other areas, and a $35,000 budget is not a large amount for a city.

"Not that it's not a problem, but it's not anything that's going to make or break any program," he said. "If it keeps up like this until June, that's a different story."

Peppler said the department has already needed to buy more salt than the budget allows for, but he said the city will not need as much of the resource as the winter goes on. February and March will bring warmer weather, and the snow is often just plowed off the roads, rather than salted.

The city council may need to approve new appropriations to keep up with current weather conditions, and Peppler said he does not think the department will have trouble getting more money. There will probably be enough money to prevent other street projects from suffering, but Peppler said he would not like to exceed the budget in the coming years.

"After five or six years of mild winters, the budget kind of stays the same, so I'm hoping they'll increase the budget for next year," he said.