Braintree Snow Budget Hits Deficit, But All Past Debts Are Paid

BRAINTREE, MA — The Braintree snow budget is running a deficit thanks to what’s been a storm-loaded March, Mayor Joseph Sullivan told the town council Tuesday night.

The $500,000 snow removal budget is about $380,000 in the red with at least one more major storm to go, Sullivan said during a hearing for a proposed supplemental budget. While there is debt, the good news is that Braintree is not in the same position that many towns are in when it comes to paying snow removal debts. He told the council that some towns are still paying off bills from the winter of 2015 while Braintree was in the financial position to pay for services at the time of the storm.

“Every city and town is facing the same challenges but not every city and town are in the same position that we’re in,” Sullivan said.

He also noted that Braintree has a lower outage rate than other communities because of the tree and maitnance work performed by the Braintree Electric and Light Department and the Department of Public Works. The comments come during a month where several communities on the South Shore struggled to maintain power during the recent series of storms.

“We do the work that’s necessary in August, September, and October so when February and March come along, we don’t have a loss of power,” Sullivan said. With all due respect to National Grid and (Eversource, they do not do the level of prevention work we do in Braintree. It keeps the power on.”

Councilor Sean Powers said the work is noticeable, telling the mayor that the difference between the roads in Braintree and other towns during a storm is like day and night.

Image: File Photo