Though it’s been cold and snowy this week, this year’s warmer than usual winter is good news for Ohio taxpayers. Before this snowfall, the state had spent a little over $63 million on road salt, when the yearly average spent over the last decade has been nearly $77 million.
The Ohio Department of Transportation’s Matt Bruning said the fair weather means the state has been able to save a lot of road salt.
“At this point in time, we have used the second lowest amount of salt of any winter over the last ten years. The only one that we have used less salt in was back in 2012 when we had only used about 368,000 tons," Bruning said.
Bruning said salt prices are determined by supply and demand. So he says the price for salt will likely be lower next winter because the supply should be plentiful. But even with this mild weather, Bruning notes the state’s road crews have worked more than 638,000 hours clearing snow and ice this winter.
