Mt. Prospect paying much more for road salt
Mount Prospect will have to pay more than 40 percent more for road salt this year, which could prove costly if this winter is like the last with its near record snowfall.
The village board has agreed to a contract with Morton Salt to provide salt at the state's joint purchasing unit price of $75.79 per ton, at a cost not to exceed $409,266 unless approved by the village board.
Under the contract, the village is eligible to receive 4,500 tons and is obligated to purchase at least 3,600. Morton Salt has supplied the village for the last five seasons.
Public Works Director Sean Dorsey told the village board his department, which typically uses 4,500 tons of salt, used 6,000 tons last winter.
Of that, 5,400 tons was purchased through the state Joint Purchasing Program. The remainder was bought privately.
This year, Dorsey said the unit price for salt purchased through the state program is increasing 44 percent from last year's rate of $52.74 per ton.
Last year's winter season was the third snowiest experienced by the village since records have been kept. As a result, regional salt stores were depleted.
Dorsey also said that trucks to deliver the salt are in short supply because of the road construction throughout the region.
"Consequently, our rates have increased," he said.
The village has about 1,200 tons in storage, which, in conjunction with what it buys this year, will total about 6,600 tons of salt for this winter.
The higher pricing is part of a trend in local communities, with prices ranging from $77.06 per ton in Arlington Heights to $109.94 per ton in Park Ridge. Dorsey said prices in other communities are as high as $140 per ton.
Dorsey said the village investigated going outside the state bid to see if that would be cheaper.
"The problem is it's still the same players, the same salt suppliers in the area," Dorsey said, "and they still have their agreements with the tollway, with IDOT (Illinois Department of Transportation), and those contracts get filled first."