Maryland's worst winter storm on record broke Howard County's bank on snow-removal funding, forcing a request to the County Council to use $750,000 from a contingency fund to help fill the gap.

Raymond S. Wacks, the county budget director, said the contingency money would get the government through March, when cuts in other departmental budgets would have to be made to fill the gap.

Wacks said the county was about $600,000 in the red on snow removal Friday, and the storm so far has cost more than $500,000 more. Cleanup is still under way, and a month of winter remains, he noted.

"No one really knows what the numbers will be," Wacks said.