Why hundreds of communities are scrambling to find road salt

Winter is still months away. But communities already are scrambling to store up road salt for the snowy season ahead.

That lately has been a challenge for municipalities that count on buying salt through the Illinois Department of Central Management Services (CMS), only to be left out in the cold.

CMS runs a statewide joint procurement program for bulk rock salt.

Local governments sign up to participate and submit their tonnage needs to CMS rather than running their own separate bidding processes.

CMS bundles those requests together and puts the contract out to bid. Salt vendors then bid to supply the salt, and municipalities buy at the winning bid price under that joint contract.

But that process has proven slippery for more than 250 communities that received no bids for the 2026-27 season, leaving them to choose whether to stay with the state and wait for emergency bids or find alternative sources.

In a recent letter to the communities, CMS didn’t make any promises about a last-minute rescue and warned prices might be higher if there is an emergency allocation.

“CMS procures road salt for hundreds of locations statewide every year to ensure communities have the materials needed for winter road safety,” CMS spokeswoman Cynthia Johnson wrote in an email.

She said most locations across Illinois received vendor bids as expected.

“However, a large supplier that typically submits successful bids providing salt throughout the State chose not to participate, resulting in gaps for some locations,” she said.

Johnson said efforts are underway to acquire salt for the “no-bid locations.”

“Our priority remains ensuring that all communities have reliable access to road salt to maintain safe roadways throughout the winter season. CMS will keep impacted jurisdictions updated as we continue to attempt to contract with capable, interested vendors,” she said.

Meanwhile, communities like Mount Prospect have decided not to wait.

“Our team just started calling suppliers, just to see if they connected with a source that could meet our supply requirements,” Mount Prospect Village Manager Michael Cassady said.

They found a source in West Chicago-based Midwest Salt. The price, a cost not to exceed $562,950 for 5,000 tons of road salt, amounted to $112.59 per ton. Last year the village paid $68.35 per ton under the state bid.

Other communities that did not receive bids through CMS are Arlington Heights, Palatine and Buffalo Grove.

Due to a mild winter last year, Arlington Heights has a full salt dome, and the village is not immediately concerned, said Cris Papierniak, director of public works and engineering.

Papierniak said Arlington Heights is participating in a joint municipal bid with Palatine and Elk Grove Village to procure additional salt for the season.

Palatine Public Works Director Matt Barry said the village also benefited from the mild winter and stockpiled more than half the salt volume it expects to need during a typical winter.

Buffalo Grove, which also uses joint purchasing through Lake County, plans to purchase salt from other sources to cover its need.

The village does not anticipate the regional shortage affecting village operations during the winter, said Molly Gillespie, Buffalo Grove’s communications and engagement director.

Communities that did receive confirmation for salt from CMS include Barrington, which also received bids through Lake County.

“We are not experiencing anything regarding a salt shortage to this point,” said Fred Braun, Barrington’s director of public works.

Rolling Meadows also received a bid through the CMS contract from Morton Salt.

Glen Cole, the assistant city manager and community development director for Rolling Meadows, said Morton proposed providing the full requested allotment of 1,200 tons.

“We have about 800 to 900 tons on hand. In a standard year, we use about 1,200 tons for 30 to 36 inches of snow, and that number has been trending down,” he said. “We are anticipating a lighter year with 18 to 20 inches of snow requiring less — perhaps 800 tons.”

Naperville received 3,000 tons secured from the CMS bid and 4,000 tons through an emergency procurement with Midwest Salt.

“We are also part of the state’s emergency procurement for another 5,000 tons of salt,” the city’s director of communications, Linda LaCloche, said.

However, the cost is escalating.

“There is a large price increase for salt this year,” she said. “Last year we paid around $70 per ton, and this year we will anticipate that we will pay $113.50 at a minimum and over $140 for the salt off the state bid.”

The Illinois Tollway anticipates it will have the salt supplies it needs for the upcoming winter season. The Tollway procures salt through CMS. It also is opting to pursue its own procurements.

Communities like Aurora are using a multipronged approach.

Jason Bauer, the city’s director of public works and city engineer, said Aurora pursued multiple procurement efforts. In the spring, it conducted a competitive sealed-bid process, resulting in a contract awarded to Compass Minerals of Kansas.

Aurora also participated in the DuPage County joint bid to secure additional salt. Compass Minerals was also the successful supplier through that procurement process.

The city did seek salt through CMS but received no bids through that process.

Bauer said the city does not anticipate any salt shortages during the 2026-27 season.

Mark Fowler, executive director of the Northwest Municipal Conference, said a similar situation occurred five to 10 years ago. When the state failed to secure bids, municipalities had to seek emergency supplies or contact salt mines directly.

He said the hope is that existing stockpiles, combined with pretreatments and relatively mild winters, will see communities through.

“I don't think we're on the verge of a trend,” Fowler said. “I would say it's more of a blip.”

szalusky@dailyherald.com