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City Brainstorming Ways to Pay For Road Salt

By Heather Chapman / Brenna Angel

Lexington – With several more weeks of winter remaining, the city of Lexington has already exhausted its budget for snow removal and salt. Kevin Wente of the city's public works department, delivered the news to urban county council members Thursday night.

"To date we've used approximately 11,000 tons of salt. We've spent approximately $1 million with an approved budget of $800,000. Once we've had all of our shipments that we've ordered in place that would equate to roughly 15,000 tons of salt that we've had to order."

Wente says the public works department is investigating ways to bridge the budget gap, which currently stands at $200,000 dollars. Possibilities include using money from the Urban Services Fund, Lexington's rainy day fund, and billing utility companies for materials and labor when the city responds to a water or gas main break.