The state Department of Transportation will see less than a tenth of the money it was hoping for from the federal government to cover the cost of a harsh winter.
The agency was $12 million over budget after the winter weather, but it will probably receive only $1 million in federal disaster funds from FEMA.
DOT spokesman Brent Walker says the agency set aside $54 million to cover snow removal, overtime and materials. That cost ballooned to $66 million by the time spring arrived.
Walker says they've already received $400,000 back from FEMA for the December snowstorm that brought the southern part of the state to a standstill.
"We are still waiting for the February snow event and then we had some flooding in March where there were some emergency declarations,” he said.
Walker estimates by the time the federal government sends out the final check, the DOT will receive about a million dollars.
"While we were optimistic that we would be able to recoup a higher amount. As it turns out, it's not going to put much of a dent in the overall overage,” Walker said.
Walker says that means making up that $11 million difference will eat into the regular DOT budget.
"We've got to take a look at our overall programing and we've got to cut back in some ways,” Walker said. “And most of the time that's going to come in the form of maintenance and maybe even some paving."
Walker admits it's not the ideal situation but they have to deal with it. He says the DOT will be crunching the numbers over the next few weeks to see exactly which projects won't weather this financial storm.