The deluge of three back-to-back nor’easters has taken its toll on the town’s snow and ice removal budget, as town officials anticipate a deficit in the budget due to costly cleanup efforts.

Before the most recent storm on March 13, the town still had $26,596.34 remaining in its $301,096 snow and ice removal budget. Updated numbers have not yet come in, but Interim Town Administrator Greg Barnes anticipates the town blew through the remaining funds and will need to operate on deficit spending for the rest of the season.

“The good news is, until the last storm we actually had a surplus,” Barnes said. “I do not have the up-to-date numbers of the last storm but I think it’s probably safe to say they will put us into a deficit, and we have one to two more storms to contend with after that.”

The announcement was made at the March 19 Select Board meeting. Although no action was required by the board, as state law allows the town administrator to enter into deficit spending for that particular budget item, Barnes wanted to keep the board informed about the situation.

When member John Haran questioned the rise of vehicle maintenance to $37,000, member Shawn McDonald noted repairs were costly this past year.

“There were a lot of repairs made,” noted Select Board member Shawn McDonald. “One truck had a transmission problem and with plowing anything you’re also going to end up having damage to plows.”

McDonald also praised the Department of Public Works and emergency crews for how storm cleanup went, and also praised Eversource for its response to the storm, noting crews were called in from out of state to clean up the damage to utility lines and help restore power.