No one can argue that this winter has been easier to handle than most. 

With less snow falling on the region, that means less money spent on snow removal from the roads.

It's obvious most people are enjoying the warmer temperatures, and some of those people like borough managers and supervisors are seeing some early returns on their snow investments.

If the lack of leftover salt on the roadways and spare use of shovels isn't enough -- the numbers are. 

"There's some savings in salt, there's some overtime savings. In Ebensburg, we usually load and haul snow out of the downtown, we haven't had to do that at all. So, that is an expensive thing to have to do," Borough Manager Dan Penatzer said.

"With this mild weather, we broke even this past year, so we're feeling pretty good about that," Middle Taylor Township Supervisor Richard Oaks said.

The mild winter is proving how mild it can be on the checkbooks.

"It already has an area where it's going to go. It's going to pay debt that we had anticipated getting a loan for. So, it helped us this year. We won't have to borrow that money, by the looks of it at this point," Oaks said.

Ebensburg borough usually uses about 350 tons of salt per winter at about $75 a ton. This year, it's sitting at about 79 tons. 

With less salt, the environment is being saved too.

"[But] it has some detrimental impacts on soils and trees, and vegetation. It adversely effects stream chemistries," Penatzer explained.

Penatzer told 6 News, although snow removal is a small part of its budget, the savings will be in the thousands. It will be used for upcoming projects that are already underway.

"We've replaced sewer lines this year already. We've put in several new catch basins. We've graded and seeded just last week an area for a new park project. We're never able to do that kind of thing in February," Penatzer said.

Officials said in February of 2011, plows were out nearly 23 consecutive days. In February of 2012, there's only been about 5 days.