There was some fear going into the first significant snowstorm of the season on Tuesday that some Westmoreland County roads would not be cleared as efficiently as they had been in the past. This was due largely to the fact that four of the normal eight-person road crew that plows and salts over 50 miles of county roads were furloughed by the county back when there was a budget crisis in Harrisburg.

The good news is that the budget crisis is over, and despite only having four people, the roads got plowed, salted and are still being maintained. But as Republican Westmoreland County Commissioner Douglas Chew explains, bringing back 125 furloughed county workers is a process. And it's a process that is linked to when the county begins to once again get its state funds.

"The money does not immediately flow whenever a budget passes from Harrisburg," Chew said. "There are things that are just now, this week in fact, opening up and coming into play. So the system is ramping back up from the shutdown time. And we have begun to receive some funding from the state, but definitely not everything that we have invoiced."

As the money begins to flow back into Westmoreland County from the commonwealth, Chew says they hope to have all their furloughed workers back by January. But there is a separate issue the county is now contending with: the proposed budget for 2026.

KDKA reported back in November that the new budget for the county had a deficit of around $30 million. Chew said that he and his fellow county commissioners have been working to bring that deficit down. And while he says they have been somewhat successful, anyway you cut it, that deficit will be there going into next year.

"I think the majority of people furloughed will have a job to come back to," Chew said. "But ultimately, the budget still has a deficit, and it is possible that the worst case scenario with potential layoffs may occur in the future."

The new budget in Westmoreland County for 2026 is due by the end of December.