Franklin County municipalities spent a total of $3.16 million on winter road expenses in fiscal year 2025, per state Department of Revenue data, and although the dollar amount allocated per roadway mile varies by town, one thing is universally true: that figure falls below the state average.
The town that spent the least on average per mile in FY25 was Colrain ($1,460.75 per mile) and the town that spent the most was Buckland ($5,505.86 per mile). On average, Franklin County towns spent $2,897.35 per mile to keep the roads clear last summer, which falls closer to the $2,559.23 per roadway mile that Greenfield spent to maintain its 101.8 miles of road at a total expense of $260,734 in FY25.
Still, the average spent per mile in Franklin County equates to less than half of the state average. Statewide, towns spend $7,759.99 per mile each winter; however, this average is heavily influenced by one big outlier. Boston spent a total of $32 million last winter to maintain its 790 miles. Excluding Boston, the state average is $5,711.26 per mile, falling closer to Franklin County’s top-spending towns in FY25.
Stretching dollars
Northfield Highway Superintendent Tom Walker said the average snowstorm with 1 to 3 inches of snow costs the town $10,000 “between salt, sand and time, whether it be normal or overtime.”
According to Department of Revenue data, Northfield spent $321,149 on winter roads in FY25, approximately $60,000 more than budgeted. This averages to $4,909.78 per roadway mile, well over the county average, but still below the state average.
Walker said he knows his winter roads budget is not enough to cover the department’s needs in the winter, but he does the best he can to stretch dollars and move funds between budget lines before it goes into a deficit.
“In Massachusetts, you’re allowed to go over budget on winter roads. [The state doesn’t] let you do that for your regular budget, but for winter roads, you can if you have to,” Walker explained. “You don’t try to go over budget, but sometimes there’s an unusually tough winter. We try to move money between budget lines before charging the taxpayers more.”
In the past 10 years, Northfield has not reported any deficits to the Department of Revenue for winter roads; almost every year, it has made supplemental appropriations and funding transfers to increase the budget when what was approved at Annual Town Meeting was not enough. According to Department of Revenue data, the town appropriated or transferred an additional $60,099 in FY25; in FY24, an extra $36,216; and in FY23, an additional $140,000.
Since 2012, the city of Greenfield has only gone over budget on winter roads three times, including in the last fiscal year, when, according to Department of Revenue data, the city went over its $217,800 budget by approximately $42,934.
Mayor Ginny Desorgher explained that the city’s comparatively low winter-weather costs could be attributed to the region seeing more mild winters the past few years, as well as Department of Public Works employees being, in her opinion, underpaid.
Desorgher added that she spoke to one particular DPW worker who has worked for the city for more than 25 years and makes slightly more than $29 per hour.
“We are so lucky that we have our DPW workers, the folks who actually do our plowing. … Because we have these employees working for the city, it costs less than some other towns who need to contract out. Some other towns that don’t have as large a DPW as we do, they have to contract out and would hire somebody for maybe $100 or $200 an hour,” Desorgher said. “I definitely think our DPW workers should be paid more, and we’ll be negotiating their contract, but I will say that they do a fabulous job.”
Coping with rising costs, shortages
The mayor also noted that the cost of road salt and vehicle maintenance has increased dramatically, nearly doubling in the last few years. With the city seeing heavier storms this winter, she said she expects that Greenfield will likely need to deficit spend on cleanup this year and will likely increase its snow removal budget in the next fiscal year.
Likewise, Walker said it is hard to predict how the rest of the winter will go, but he expects Northfield will need to move around funding again this year to cover winter road costs.
“It’s been a long time since we’ve had a winter like this one,” Walker said. “I’ve used twice as much salt as I did at this time last year. … It’s been a real struggle with the ice.”
Walker said the town uses salt on its paved roads and sand on gravel roads. Frequent rainstorms leaving ice patches on the roads have required the department to use more salt and sand. This year, the department expects to use approximately 800 tons of salt and between 1,500 and 2,000 tons of sand.
He added that the department is able to make its own sand from gravel to cut costs, but higher than usual amounts of ice have required them to use more material.
“It’s the ice that really hurts the Highway Department,” Walker said.
Similarly, in Hawley, the town has also needed more sand than last winter. Financial Administrator Virginia Gabert told the Selectboard last month that so far this year, the town has spent $1,000 more on sand than it did the year before. The town has bought $17,000 worth of sand; at this point last winter, it had purchased $16,000.
“Last year, we went through $20,000 worth of sand,” Gabert told the Selectboard. “It’s been a very sandy year.”
Heath Highway Superintendent Tyson Howard said this year’s costs have been about “on par” with last year, although there has been more ice than snow. However, he said “it’s pretty much impossible” to plan how much salt, sand and other materials will be needed from year to year, and that one or two severe winter storms can eat up most of a town’s reserves for the season.
He added that the amount of snow falling in a storm does not play much of a factor in terms of cost, as the town still has to pre-treat, treat and plow the roads, no matter how much snow falls.
“One to 3 inches costs as much as a foot of snow, at least in terms of product usage,” Howard said.
“The little storms cost just as much as the big ones,” Walker agreed.
Howard said that the cost of materials — salt, sand, pretreatments, etc. — has risen in recent years, as have delivery fees for the supplies and fuel costs for the trucks used for plowing. He added that plow blades, which on larger trucks need to be replaced every year or so, have increased in cost due to tariffs on steel.
“The cost of everything is going up,” Howard said.
According to Department of Revenue data, Heath spent $132,051, or an average of $2,534.57 per roadway mile, in FY25 on snow and ice removal. Howard said the biggest expense is the cost associated with overtime pay for department members who work extra hours to keep up with plowing and treating roads.
As a small department with just three full-time members, it usually means extra hours on the road for the crew anytime it snows. Howard said the department was lucky to not have many storms around Thanksgiving and Christmas, and crews were able to spend the time with their families without being called in to plow.
“Just this weekend, it wasn’t horrible, but we did 17 hours of overtime,” Howard said, referring to Jan. 17 and 18. “Pretty much every weekend we’ve been out plowing.”
The Heath Highway Department is responsible for approximately 51 miles of road. Howard said crews pass over the roads multiple times per storm to cover multiple lanes as well as pre-treat and treat the roads, in addition to removing snow and ice.
‘We do the best we can’
Walker said Northfield has a few contract plows it can call in, but the department tries to have staff plow as much as possible on their own to cut costs. He said that for a typical 1- to 3-inch storm, it takes crews an average of 10 hours to treat the roads and clear the snow.
Athol Department of Public Works Superintendent Richard Kilhart said that despite being short-staffed, the town does not contract with outside companies for plowing, leaving crews to pick up extra routes and work extra hours.
“A lot of towns do, but Athol does not,” Kilhart said. “It’s something we talk about regularly with the powers-that-be, but it hasn’t come to be. So, we do the best we can with the resources we have.”
According to Department of Revenue data, in FY25, Athol spent a total of $354,429, or approximately $3,567 per roadway mile.
Walker added that he urges people to be patient with highway departments during snowstorms, as winter road maintenance is time-consuming and expensive, and crews are doing the best they can.
“People just need to be patient,” Walker said. “You’re trying to do as much as you can with the money you have.”
Anthony Cammalleri contributed reporting.