Budgets for snow removal may be all that's completely cleaned out in Montgomery, as cash-strapped county and municipal governments scramble to clear roads and walks and recover from a historic string of snowstorms.

"We have not even begun to reconcile the costs because we are not done yet," said Esther Bowring, spokeswoman for Montgomery's transportation and public works agencies.

As for a rough estimate of cleanup costs, "we have no idea," she said. "It's premature to even try to calculate one."

Expenses consumed an initial county allocation of about $2.7 million for sand, salt and salaries weeks ago, and $15 million in an undesignated reserve pretty much was spent before this weekend's storm, Bowring said.

County schools haven't tallied all the costs either said Larry A. Bowers, the school system's chief operating officer.

Although schools were closed Monday and Tuesday and will be closed the rest of the week, maintenance employees, who are paid overtime when schools are closed, will be working to clear sidewalks and parking lots.

Some maintenance employees, Bowers said, even slept at schools on the weekend to be available to remove the snow. Contractors also have been called in.

"We're struggling," Bowers said. "Our equipment isn't made for 15, 20, 25 inches of snow."

More expenses could be on the way from water damage, busted pipes and leaky roofs, Bowers said, but the school system has not determined the amount of damage to its facilities.

Even after schools reopen, it's going to be tough to get students to school.

"I don't know how buses are gonna make it through some of the neighborhoods," Bowers said, adding that some streets might not have cleared sidewalks enough for students to walk or wait for the bus.

The snow costs have come on top of a request from County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) for the school system to save $32 million for the year.

"That's hard to meet with having additional costs to deal with," Bowers said.

County schools already have used its four built-in snow days. For every snow day, the system will add a day to the end of the school year.

With this week's closings, the school year would be extended by at least one day to June 17.

State Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick could waive some of the snow days, but the system won't know that until later in the school year, said Dana Tofig, a school system spokesman.

Bill Reinhard, a spokesman for the state Department of Education, said the county would have to request a waiver from the state education department. So far, only Baltimore city and St. Mary's and Anne Arundel counties have requested the waiver.

Communities grapple

with cleanup costs

Like the schools, Garrett Park had to rely heavily on contractors for snow removal.

"I hate to think what a mess it would be if we had outside contractors," said Garrett Park Town Manager Ted Pratt, who praised crews that already had worked almost 30 hours straight by Monday.

Garrett Park and Kensington haven't taken time yet to tally their costs.

"It's disastrous," said Kensington town manager Sanford Daily. "It's going to be way over what we had expected, just like everybody else."

Some towns are on track to spend more than four or five times what they budgeted for snow removal, with six weeks of winter to go.

Rockville, Somerset, Washington Grove and Brookeville have spent all they budgeted for snow removal.

Harold Belton, Gaithersburg's finance director, estimated Tuesday that the storm already had cost the City of Gaithersburg $400,000 in overtime and independent contractor fees, before salt and gasoline costs were factored in. The public works department likely will exceed its overtime budget, he said.

"It's going to cost at least another $400,000," he said considering predictions of another 10 inches or more of snow.

Rockville's Department of Public Works has overspent its snow removal allowance for the year, according to Craig Simoneau, the department's director.

About $191,000 was used to stock salt barns. City officials provided $120,000 more for "snow and ice overtime and chemicals" on Feb. 1 and also authorized the delivery of more snow removal equipment.

In Brookeville, commission President Michael Acierno said that some services almost certainly will have to be reduced to recover the costs.

Somerset Mayor Jeffrey Slavin said the town's snow removal costs will go higher partly because of a decision last year to remove snow from sidewalks in front of residences, instead of letting homeowners clear the snow themselves. The decision was made, in part, to encourage residents to walk, but it "vastly increases the cost," Slavin said.

Washington Grove has had to make do solely with sand and private plowing, as salt is a no-no in the 200-home hamlet without a sewer system.

Contract crews started clearing Washington Grove's gutter-less streets Friday, and three Bobcats were busy all day Monday traversing the maze of narrower streets. With another storm to go, the work has tallied $20,000 — three times the typical expense for an entire winter.

"Everybody's in the same position," said Mayor Darrell Anderson. "It's blowing the top out of our budget."

Staff Writers Jen Beasley, Patricia Murret, Nathan Carrick, Terri Hogan, Sebastian Montes, Andrew Ujifusa and Nesa Nourmohammadi contributed to this report.