Chesterfield Changing Formula for Snow Removal Reimbursement

The city is changing its formula for how it reimburses private subdivisions for snow plowing, and it could mean less money for those who spend more.

Chesterfield Planning and Public Works Director Michael Geisel said the program to help such subdivisions cover their costs has been in place since 1999. Previously, the total amount of reimbursed was capped at $75,000 annually and doled out on a $50 per unit basis or $6,000 per mile of street.

The new rules, which take effect immediately and will apply to the current winter season, will provide for a lower reimbursement rate at $40 per unit or $5,000 per mile of street, whichever number is higher, but with an increased budgeted cap of nearly twice the previous amount at $145,000.

The previous policy was put into effect in 2011. It was a cut from what had been in place prior, according to a story in the Suburban Journals, and made as a result of the economic downtown turn. At the time, several condo association members spoke out about the burden the cutbacks were placing on their own budgets.

In considering whether to change the reimbursement formula, Geisel conducted a review of the data from the past 13 years and discovered another issue. On a per square yard basis, some subdivsions were receiving more and others less.

 “You might have subdivision A, which spends $2,000 on a basic service, and then subdivision B that spends little a more for the same thing, maybe $4,000,” he said, explaining that the new rules are an attempt to “normalize” the amount that is covered by the city.

“The net result is that subdivisions should be reimbursed for reasonable expenses,” he said.

The figure set for reimbursement represents the 80th percentile of what subdivisions have historical spent on snow plowing and snow removal.