While the price of road salt has increased dramatically since last year, roadmasters in municipalities both large and small will be ready for any snowfall or ice Mother Nature has in store this winter.

Sam Ward, chairman of the Penn Township supervisors, said at the Tuesday evening meeting that salt prices have risen more than $20 per ton over last year.

In 2021, a ton of road salt cost $58. The current price is $79.

Mike Mattis, county manager at the state Department of Transportation’s District 10, said while the increase is sizable, last year’s prices were unusually low at $58 per ton.

“Last year was a big savings because of the decrease, but this year it’s going to cost us quite a bit more than last year if we use the same amount of salt,” Mattis said. “It’ll be a $500,000 increase.”

He said the five-year average for salt use on state roads in the county is 24,000 tons per year, plus the salt mixed with water to create a brine solution that can be used in certain conditions.

Mattis has no idea why prices were unusually low last year, or why a $21 increase occurred this year.

“I’m not worried,” he said. “We have the money to purchase the road salt and maintain our current level of service.”

Kelly Maurer, public works director at Cranberry Township, said 3,000 to 4,500 tons of salt are used in the township, in addition to brine.

She said she purchased the maximum amount of salt permitted according to the township’s state cooperative purchasing program contract — known as CoStars — to take advantage of the low price.

She ordered 3,600 tons at $58 per ton last season, and plans to buy 3,000 tons this year to satisfy the minimum purchase required in the CoStars contract.

“We anticipated it was going up, and that was correct,” Maurer said.

She said $300,000 was spent on salt last season in the township.

Bob Fletcher, the roadmaster in Buffalo Township, said the growing municipality uses an average of at least 1,000 tons of salt each year.

He has 1,000 tons in stock now, which, he said, might get him through the winter, depending on the weather.

He was dismayed, but not surprised, by the significant increase in salt prices this year.

“It’s the way things are going,” Fletcher said. “I don’t like it, but everything is going up and nothing is coming down.”

He said he mixes up anti-skid at three parts of sand to one part of salt.

The anti-skid is used on most township roads, Fletcher said.

The $79 per-ton price is the highest he’s seen in his public works career.

“One year, about 10 years ago, it was bad,” Fletcher said, “but not this bad.”

Rich Stuchal, who is one of three Mercer Township supervisors who works part-time on the road crew, goes through 100 to 120 tons of salt per year.

Although the rural township has only 17 miles of roadway, he sells salt to Harrisville and other small municipalities in the northern part of the county that do not have cooperative purchasing contracts.

Stuchal has some salt leftover and bought three tons last year to take advantage of the bargain prices.

“Most people don’t buy salt in July,” he said.

Stuchal said, as is the case with the diesel fuel that powers the plow trucks, parts that must be purchased to repair equipment or most other township expenses, the township has no choice but to pay the rising going rate.

“It’s no different for us than a family going to the grocery store,” he said.

Doug Roth, the roadmaster and a township supervisor in Penn Township, said about 1,300 tons of salt are used each year in his municipality.

He said after a milder winter like last season, most salt purveyors offer lower prices the following year because they have a stockpile they want to get rid of.

“We were surprised,” Roth said about this year’s increase.

Roth agreed with the people whose job is to keep motorists safe from each winter’s blast.

“We’ve got to take care of the roads. That’s all there is to it,” Roth said. “If it’s a bad winter and we need a lot of salt, we’ll use a lot of salt.”