Butler County municipalities are seeking reimbursement of almost $1 million in snow removal costs, contending that February's record-smashing snowfall amounted to a federal disaster that added inches of the white stuff to the landscape and piles of unanticipated expenditures to budgets.

County emergency management director Frank Matis was directed by the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency to compile municipal costs associated with snow removal over a continuous 48-hour period.

That information will be forwarded to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for review.

In the meantime, the National Weather Service is compiling and verifying data that would show that February's snowfall indeed was a record-setter, as preliminary figures indicate.

"If the weather service can show that records were broken, it's my understanding that we'd get full reimbursement of the costs that were racked up during the worst 48-hour period," Mr. Matis explained.

The regulations allow municipalities to seek reimbursement for only a two-day period, not for the season's or month's snow removal costs.

The municipalities with the highest snow removal costs over a two-day period were Cranberry and Butler City, spending $112,766 and $108,937 respectively.

Mr. Matis said he wasn't surprised that the two most populated municipalities -- about 28,000 residents in Cranberry and about 13,000 in Butler City -- would have the highest spending levels. The lowest amount spent among the 44 that responded to Mr. Matis' survey was $600. That amount was incurred by Cherry Valley, a borough of about 140 people at the northern border with Venango County.

Mr. Matis said 13 Butler County municipalities chose not to respond to the survey, an indication that the expense incurred was minimal.

In addition to municipalities, the county itself is seeking reimbursement, as are the school districts within the county. Butler County spent $5,137, and the school districts spent $61,532. The highest spending was by Seneca Valley with $27,712, with the lowest being $1,929 by Karns City School District. Butler County Community College, which is partly subsidized by the county, spent $11,710 and is considered a school district for the purpose of the reimbursement application.

Mr. Matis said the application couldn't be submitted unless, collectively, at least $3.23 was spent per Butler County resident. He estimated the county has a population of about 185,000.

There is no set date for a decision on the application.

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