Snow wrecks CTA budget Live
The CTA is blaming snow removal expenses for an increase in January 2014 expenses. (Alex Garcia/Chicago Tribune)
RedEye
Snow has taken a toll on the CTA's budget.
In January, the agency used nearly three times as many sleet scrapers, more than three times the amount of deicing fluid, three times the number of replacement heaters for buses and four times the amount of salt than January 2013, a top CTA official told CTA board members Wednesday at a monthly meeting.
The CTA's total expenses for January were $123 million, up $1.7 million compared to January 2013. Officials blamed snow removal for the increase. Labor and material expenses were up versus the same period last year.
Chicago has seen its third snowiest winter so far, as of Wednesday. At 33.7 inches, January was the third snowiest month in Chicago since 1884, when records began, the Tribune reported.
CTA Chief Financial Officer Ron DeNard said CTA staff has been monitoring expenses through February and March but is not concerned the CTA will plow through its budget.
“We don't feel at this moment we have a budget issue,” DeNard said. “I believe we will absolutely be able to absorb it.”
tswartz@tribune.com
