Road Commissions Looking To Lawmakers For Extra Cash

LANSING (WWJ) - The cold and snow has Metro Detroit road commissions scrambling for extra cash. And as the snow continues to pileup and snow plows continue to do their work, Governor Rick Snyder says he wants a "thoughtful and methodical review" on what the costs might be before he sends in any emergency money to local governments that are running out of money to clear the roads.

"Well lets let the snow settle a little bit. We actually are doing some work to try to find out what those numbers might be, what the situation is. We have 83 counties and we have our own state issues, so that's something I've asked MDOT to do some work on," says Snyder.

The governor says the state will not drag its feet, but he's not about to do anything right now either. Meantime, local governments are borrowing from their Summer budgets to pay for the snow removal this Winter. State Representative Paul Muxlow says he's heard from local officials that they could use some help.

"A push from the governor might make it move a little faster, but it's probably time to consider it. Particularly with quite a lot of winter left," says Muxlow.

And Muxlow adds that it's likely that he would give a 'yes' vote to the matter.

"I think so, based on what it looked like," says Muxlow.

The director of the Michigan Department of Transportation, Kirk Steudle, says it's possible they'll blow the budget before the snow is over.

"Yeah, the snow's blowing and it's blowing the budget as well," says Steudle.

He's hoping the legislature will give additional appropriations to help fill in the holes.

"We still have money in the account, but we know that by the end of the year we're not going to have money in the account whether it's MDOT, cities or counties," says Steudle.