Trenton Melts Through Salt Budget Because of Extra Snowy Winter

Trenton’s Department of Public Works has used twice as much road salt this year compared to last year because of record snowfall.

DPW used about 1,400 tons of road salt this winter compared to the 700 tons used last winter, department head Eric Witte said.

According to statistics provided by the National Weather Service, this was the second snowiest February on record, with 31.7 inches of snow.

February also saw six days of significant snowfall totaling more than two inches, with the biggest amounts coming on Feb. 1 (6.3 inches), Feb. 5 (4.8 inches) and Feb. 20 (8.2 inches).

March hasn’t been much of an improvement. So far this month, the metropolitan Detroit area has seen 4.5 inches of snow. Temperatures have averaged 29.8 degrees–2.6 degrees less than average.

The DPW has a salt barn that holds 1,200 tons of salt and the barn was down to about 500 tons on Thursday.

“When we started the season we had 900 tons left in the building,” Witte said.

The increased need for salt has stretched the city’s dollars past the budgeted amount. Witte said the city budgeted $55,000 for road salt and it has spent about $58,000. Witte added that the department would not be making any more orders for salt this winter, but the budget was exceeded by $3,000.

“We tried our best to meet the needs of the public while being conscious of salt applications,” Witte said.

The money spent over budget would have to come from the general fund balance.

“I don’t anticipate spending any more from this year’s budget,” Witte said.

The general fund balance was unavailable by Friday afternoon.

In 2008, city council members decided to scale back the use of road salt because prices increased from about $35 per ton to about $72 per ton.

After the price increase, city council members decided to only salt residential street intersections, roads with curves, roads surrounding schools and all the city parking lots.

“For the longest time we salted everything and we just can’t do it anymore,” said Frank Weber, sanitation supervisor. “We try to open up the streets as fast as we can for the safety of the kids going to school.”

Weber said DPW employees do a good job salting and plowing. He added that other cities see Trenton’s streets and are surprised by how open the roads are and how quickly they are cleared.

Though there was some discussion this year among council members and Mayor Gerald Brown to go back to salting everywhere, a budget study session concluded the effort would cost the city an additional $100,000 per year. The idea was not pursued.

Salt costs are at about $46 per ton, which is up from about $40 per ton last winter.

Witte said he is concerned that the price of salt may continue to rise. If prices rise and next winter's snowfall amounts are similar to this year's, the salt budget may again be exceeded.

“We are concerned with the price next year because, based on the transportation cost, there could be a significant price increase next year,” Witte said. “They are talking about a projected $4 per gallon (for gasoline). That will affect next year's prices dramatically, I believe.”

According to Weber, official salt prices won’t be available until August.