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The governor's proposed Fiscal 2016 budget cuts money for snow removal by $44 million. (Robert Sciarrino | The Star-Ledger)

TRENTON -- While the snow continues to pile up this winter, and memories of last year's heavy accumulations still haven't melted away, the new 2016 state budget proposal unveiled by Gov. Chris Christie last week cuts snow removal funding for the coming winter in half.

Highlights of the governors' $33.8 billion proposed spending plan for Fiscal 2016 include a $44 million reduction in "winter operations/snow removal," a 49.3 percent reduction from the current fiscal year.

The reduction in snow removal spending is part of a broader reduction of $118 million, or 8.4 percent in the state Department of Transportation's overall budget, from $1.41 billion to $1.29 billion -- the steepest departmental budget cut in the state government under the governor's proposed spending plan, which would raise overall state spending by 3.1 percent.

State Assemblyman John Wisniewski (D-Middlesex), a frequent critic of the administration who chairs the Assembly Transportation and Independent Authorities Committee, said snow removal is a serious safety issue, pointing to the numerous crashes on state roads this winter linked to icy conditions.

"This is very frustrating, as chairman of the transportation committee, to see the administration not taking snow removal seriously," Wisniewski said. "Clearly this is disconcerting in light of the winter that we're in the midst of."

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Criticism of the proposed cut in DOT funding is in addition to heat the governor took for failing to say during his budget address how he planned to replenish the state's depleted Transportation Trust Fund, which pays for new highway and bridge projects and heavy rail maintenance. Christie later defended his silence, insisting there was time before the new fiscal year to work out funding, and that the state could borrow up to $600 million for new projects.

A spokesmen for the State Department of Transportation, Stephen Shapiro, referred all questions about the snow removal and DOT budget cuts to the Treasury Department.

Treasury spokesman Christopher Santarelli, said the cuts would not mean layoffs of plow or salt truck drivers, or a reduction of any other transportation services.

"The reduction will not affect staffing levels or any other operational program," Santarelli said in an email.

Santarelli did not say how the roads would be plowed or salted next winter if snow removal money runs out before springtime.



The amount set aside for snow removal in the Fiscal 2016 budget is $45.2 million, according to the budget summary. That's less than the $53.6 million the department had actually spent this winter as of Feb. 4 -- a figure that does not include several storms since then -- and barely a third of the $128.2 million spent during the entire winter of 2013-14, DOT figures show.

Assemblyman Scott Rumana (R-Passaic), the ranking Republican on the transportation committee, acknowledged that the proposed cut was conspicuous in light of the cold, snowy winters the state has been digging out from.

"Yea, we've had two challenging years, no question about it," he said.

But Rumana said residents should not worry that the roads would go unplowed next year. The DOT could come up with efficiencies in spending to offset the cuts, he said. And, he added, departments can always shift funds from one area to another to make up for emergencies of specific shortfalls.

He noted that lawmakers could also restore some or all of the snow removal or broader transportation funding cuts during the budget negotiation process before the start of the fiscal year on July 1.



Steve Carrellas, the New Jersey spokesman for the National Motorists Association, said he was not overly concerned about the potentially icy or snow-covered roads next winter. Carrellas said he was sure money would be moved around to avoid the costly political mistake of leaving roads unplowed, and suggested the administration had deliberately low-balled its snow removal costs to help square projected expenditures with revenue estimates in the spending plan.



"I'm sure they were just trying to minimize things to help balance the budget," Carrellas said.

But with the DOT facing a steep department-wide budget cut, Wisniewski said it was hard to imagine how the agency could shift funds to snow removal without cutting some other service motorists depend on, and he criticized the Christie administration for being disingenuous in its budgeting.

"He's sending out notice to Peter and Paul that one is going to be robbed to pay the other," Wisniewski said.

Steve Strunsky may be reached at sstrunsky@njadvancemedia.com. Follow hin on Twitter @SteveStrunsky. Find NJ.com on Facebook.