The city’s salt supply will need to be replenished before next winter, and it could be further depleted if temperatures plunge again in coming weeks.
Officials are hoping for an early spring while remaining optimistic that they will not need to make significant revisions to their budget because of inclement weather.
“If we have to make an adjustment, we’ll make an adjustment,” said Stanley Earley, Dayton’s deputy city manager. “But we are going to attempt to manage with the budget we have.”
The city owns a salt dome that holds 15,000 tons of salt.
But the storage facility is close to empty because the city has already used 18,000 to 19,000 tons of salt this winter to keep roads clear, officials said.
The city had about 500 tons of salt remaining last week, but since then, it has received a series of small deliveries of salt, and its supplies grew to 1,400 tons, officials said.
“Our trucks are loaded, and we’ll be ready to deploy whenever the transition happens from rain to snow or sleet,” said Fred Stovall, Dayton’s director of public works on Wednesday morning. “I am comfortable with that amount and I think it will be adequate to deal with this event, considering that it will be 50 degrees on Friday.”
This winter, the city paid about $52 per ton for salt, but prices will inevitably rise this year because of increased demand for the product, Earley said. The city will need to stock up on about 12,000 tons in preparation for next winter.
The city has been paying overtime for snow removal and road-clearing activities. Crews have been temporarily patching potholes and expect to begin making permanent repairs next month.
“We did not plan on the $1 million winter,” said Barbara LaBrier, the city’s director of management and budget. “That is going to be something where we will have to identify some trimming.”
City officials did not immediately identify where they expect to trim costs, but they said they do not plan to increase spending out the city’s cash reserves because of weather bills.
Dayton expects to spend about $3 million out of its cash reserves this year as part of its $158.4 million general fund budget.
The city has added to its cash reserves for several years, and it now contains a healthy $22 million, or enough money to pay for about seven weeks of operations.
The city projected spending $1.5 million of its reserves in 2013, but it was not necessary partly because the city received about $2.5 million in estate taxes, said Diane Shannon, an economist with the management and budget department.
Dayton also ended up spending $1.1 million less in 2013 than it had budgeted.
But Ohio eliminated the estate tax last year, and the final collections are not expected to exceed a few hundred thousand dollars this year, officials said. Decreases in local government funds, estate taxes, utility taxes and other revenue sources have city officials wishing for mild weather next fall.
“I am hoping Mother Nature will give us a break in the second half of this year — you know, in November and December,” said Tim Riordan, Dayton city manager.
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