02/10/2020- Last winter was a tough one on the Marinette County Highway Department’s budget. Highway Commissioner Eric Burmeister reports that, while $1-million was levied for their 2019 winter maintenance operations, their total costs came in closer to $1.7-million. Only about a quarter of that excess came in the form of salary and fringes, while a little over a third of it was spent on equipment and the majority was for materials. The Department has made an effort to mitigate some of their winter road maintenance costs by adhering to their winter operations policy as closely as possible this season. Burmeister says the 2019 report will also be used as a tool to examine where future savings or investment opportunities can be found.