Higher salt prices leave TOWN budgets in trouble

Higher salt prices leave TOWN budgets in trouble
Eryn Dion
News Staff Writer

Even before the first snowfall of the season, Highway Superintendent Francis “Bud” Chase knew his department was in for a tough winter.

An almost 40-percent increase in the price of road salt has left the town’s Snow and Ice budget on the ropes, with Interim Town Administrator Bob Markel stating that as much as $120,000 of the $125,000 budgeted for snow and ice removal could be eaten up by salt alone — a figure Mr. Chase agreed with.

“If we have the same kind of winter we had last year, that’s what we’re looking at,” Mr Chase said.

Last year’s winter was a tough one by all accounts and the highway super said he purchased about 1600 tons of road salt to combat the frequent snowfall. Even conservative estimates leave his department only $5,000 for plowing activities, and matters were further complicated when two vehicles in the plowing fleet had to be taken out of service. In order to combat the loss, Mr. Markel approached the Board of Selectmen with the option that they outfit another vehicle — a newly purchased loader — with a plow, at a cost of about $11,800 to be paid by tapping the snow and ice funds.

“For lack of any other option, I recommend we use the snow and ice account to get the new loader outfitted with a plow so we can provide better service this winter,” Mr. Markel told the board.

Snow and ice funds can be used to purchase equipment used for snow removal, but it’s a practice Selectman Julie Farrell said the town tries to avoid, as deficit spending on that account comes out of money the town gets back on their cherry sheet the following year.

“It’s digging the hole deeper,” Ms. Farrell commented.


While Mr. Markel suggested the town try to save in other areas to cover some of the additional spending at the end of the fiscal year, Mr. Chase said there was little more he could do to mitigate the impact the price increase on road salt. The blend the town uses now, he said, is about 75 percent sand and 25 percent salt, leaving little room for reductions on either end.

“It allows the traffic to beat up the snow and ice and melt it off,” he explained.

Although he was not sure why this year’s prices were so high, Mr. Chase speculated that last year’s winter could have contributed to a projected increase in demand, as well as the higher cost of diesel fuel when contractors put their programs together.

“It’s ridiculous,” Mr. Chase said. “It’s crazy.”

He also added that his already low snow and ice budget has been slashed in recent years and that $125,000 is not enough to cover the costs. Last year, when given the same amount, Mr. Chase said he deficit spent by about $51,000, even without the price increases.

Other communities in the area, he said, budget significantly more. Hubbardston set aside $206,672 in this year’s budget and Ashburnham dedicated an even $200,000 for snow and ice removal. Deficit spending, Mr. Chase said, is expected, but he still works hard to keep that number low.

“We try to be as conservative as we can with spending and get the roads so you can travel them,” he said.