If your snowmobile is collecting dust, you'd probably like to see more winter weather, but as Matt Hunter reports, this year's lack of snow is relieving the burden on municipal budgets.

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WARREN COUNTY, N.Y. – Chances are if you're paid to man a snowplow in the North Country, you kept busy last year.

"Last year, we were plowing twice every week for the whole week, right up through," Glens Falls Department of Public Works Superintendent Bob Shiavoni said.

This year, however, drivers are lucky if they even have enough reason to give their ride a wash. The lack of snow and warmer than average temperatures have relegated most plows to the garage, allowing local governments to cut down on expensive overtime and fuel costs.

"We are out there whether it's an inch of snow or 10 inches of snow, so to some degree, we're still out on overtime, but the lack of snowfall and these sunny days like today have certainly helped our budget," Warren County Public Works Superintendent Jeff Tennyson said.

From late November through January, the Warren County Department of Public Works saw the amount of hours its employees worked overtime drop by more than 900 from a year ago.

"If it holds like this, we'll probably get an early start on our spring construction," Tennyson said.

The savings in Glens Falls have also been astronomical. By this time last year, the Department of Public Works had already spent about $32,000 on overtime alone. So far this year, officials say they've only handed out $9,000. Despite high gas prices, they've also managed to cut their fuel costs by more than half.

"It's great for the taxpayer, it's great for all of us, really,” Schiavoni said. “That's what our budgets are based on."

The savings are a welcome relief after last year's harsh winter and spring and summer floods.

While the lack of snow is allowing crews to focus on other tasks, they say they're still trying to keep expenses down.

"My budget year runs January through December, so we've got the beginning of next season that's included in this budget, so we're not running out to find where we can use money elsewhere,” Tennyson said. “We've certainly got a long way to go before we're closing our books on this year."