Municipalities across the state hit with high snow removal costs.

SPRINGFIELD - The city has already spent an estimated $2.3 million in its winter-long battle to plow and sand the streets, leaving the snow and ice removal budget at a deficit of approximately $700,000 and counting.

Public Works Director Christopher Cignoli, in revealing the deficit, said the overrun "could be well over $1 million" by the end of the winter.

"The difficulty we really have this year is the storms we've had so far have been very condensed," Cignoli said, with storms coming one after the other and with very cold temperatures keeping snowbanks in place.

The city has faced significant cost increases for hired plows and equipment this year, and for materials such as road salt.

The initial budget was approximately $1.6 million, the amount typically set aside.

The Department of Public Works has approval from Mayor Domenic J. Sarno and the City Council to "deficit spend" for the winter costs, spending beyond its budget, but under the guidance of the Finance Department, officials said. Communities are allowed to deficit spend for snow removal operations under state law due to the unpredictability of winter weather.

Cignoli said the city bears costs for labor and supplies, for events ranging from major snowstorms to sanding icy roads when temperatures drop.

As of Thursday, the city had spent approximately $1 million for hired contractors, approximately $1 million for materials (including sand, salt and gasoline), and about $283,000 for Public Works salaries.

"We budget about the same amount each year for snow removal," said Jennifer Winkler, the city's budget director. "Some years, there's funding left over, other years, there's deficits. When there's a deficit, we work with the departments and the mayor to control spending in other areas to ensure the deficit can be covered."

The city, for example, had Public Works responses to 27 winter weather "events," last fiscal year, ranging from snowstorms to icy conditions, Winkler said. The total cost that year was $1,889,787.

In contrast, the city had just six winter events in fiscal year 2012, with a total winter cost of $358,575, Winkler said.

Snowstorms this year, for example, triggered a cost of $351,106 on Feb. 2, and $322,601 on Feb. 7, according to figures provided by the Finance Department, whereas icy conditions often triggered sanding and salting operations with estimated costs on those days of between $13,000 and $36,000.

The city also faced a 50 percent increase in the cost of salt this year, further affecting the deficit, Cignoli said.

Under state law, winter snow budget deficits can either be addressed before the end of the fiscal year, such as through budget transfers, or in the following year's budget.

Sarno and the finance officials gave permission to Public Works this week to use hired crews and equipment to remove high banks of snow from downtown streets and some other neighborhoods, citing concerns for public safety.

Sarno and the finance department set a ceiling of $250,000 for that task, that is separate from the winter snow account deficit. It was deemed necessary for public safety due to narrow streets, high banks, and visibility concerns at many intersections, officials said.