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THE SAVINGS BREAKDOWN
La Porte and Michigan City purchased road salt for next winter in a collective buying agreement with other cities and towns through the state's ONE Indiana initiative. Here's a breakdown of the savings:

Michigan City

• Salt type: untreated.

• Quantity: 4,400 tons.

• 2009-2010 price: $54.67 per ton.

• Last paid price: $176.50 per ton.

• Savings: $536,052 (69.03 percent).

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La Porte

• Salt type: treated.

• Quantity: 2,000 tons.

• 2009-2010 price: $71.61 per ton.

• Last paid price: $106.56 per ton.

• Savings: $69,900 (32.8 percent).
Winter road salt woes may be over
New Indiana effort makes material more affordable

Derek Smith
Staff Writer

WANATAH - It was in high demand last winter, but road salt was plentiful at the Indiana Department of Transportation's Wanatah office Thursday afternoon, where a mountain of the gray, sooty material was piled high in an adjacent warehouse.

After a harsh winter led to a national salt shortage and crippling prices for local governments, the success of a statewide collective buying agreement seems to promise an easier winter.

The state's Operating with New Efficiency Indiana initiative has secured a road salt contract that offers salt to participating municipalities at a reasonable rate.

"This is a very welcome program for the city of La Porte," La Porte Mayor Kathy Chroback said during a press conference at the station. The cash-strapped city of La Porte will save nearly $70,000 on its salt purchases through the initiative, compared to the exorbitant rate it paid last year. The city will purchase 2,000 tons of treated road salt for the 2009-2010 winter at a rate of $71.61 per ton, or a total of $143,220. During the salt shortage last winter, the city paid $106.56 per ton.

Chroback said the 2,000-ton order is sufficient enough to get the city through the upcoming winter so that it isn't forced to ration its salt supply as it did last winter.

Michigan City also is taking part in the program and is likely to save $536,000 on its 2009-2010 road salt purchase compared to what it purchased in 2008-2009. The city will purchase 4,400 pounds of untreated salt through the IndianaOne initiative at a rate of $54.67 per ton. The last price the city paid for salt was $176.50 per ton.

"This story is a great story for the city," Michigan City Mayor Chuck Oberlie said during the press conference.

The road salt savings, he continued, will free up funds for other things like road improvements.

The salt contract secured by ONE Indiana represents $8.5 million in savings for local governments and was made possible through the state's early bid time and the sheer size of the combined demand for salt, according to Mark Everson, commissioner for the Indiana Department of Administration, the agency that worked to procure the contract.

"Historically, communities have gone it alone and been forced to pay a higher price for salt," Everson said. "In these difficult economic times, it is important to leverage the state's buying power."


County saving on salt, but differently
By Craig Davison

Staff Writer

LA PORTE - The county will get its winter road salt for almost $100 less per ton than it did last year.

The cost, however, is slightly more expensive than what it could have gotten.

This year, the state legislature allowed local governments to share in its salt contract. But while waiting to hear from the state on whether it could participate, County Highway Department Superintendent Robert Young sent out bids for La Porte County. He received three bids and had a June 1 deadline, while the state hadn't given out the price of its bids. The county accepted a bid from Cargill, but had an option to only purchase a certain quantity. The cost was $58.75 per ton.

This week, Young told the County Commission the state bid from Morton was for $54.67 per ton, but because the county already accepted a bid from another vendor, Morton's policy was not to allow the county into the state bid.

The county's price per ton of salt is still far cheaper than the price last year, when it paid $145 per ton.

Commissioner Ken Layton said La Porte County was not the only government agency left out of the bid because it found another to protect itself.

The city of La Porte and Michigan City, though, did receive the state's bid for salt prices.