Keeping Smiths Falls streets clear this winter is getting considerably more expensive.
The town is moving toward a five-year contract with Compass Minerals for road salt, with the price increasing 26.2 per cent this winter and the town’s annual salt budget expected to climb by about $40,000 in 2027.
Director of Public Works and Utilities Paul McMunn told council Monday, Sept. 14, the town faced a salt shortage last winter that forced public works crews to change how they treated local roads.
“We were in a position partway through the winter where we couldn’t procure any more salt, even though we were still under contract,” McMunn said.
With additional salt unavailable, crews blended what remained with winter sand.
That kept material on the roads, but it came with consequences.
McMunn said using considerably more sand-and-salt mix leaves “a lot of grit on the road” and requires significant street-sweeping operations in the spring. Sand entering the town’s storm sewer system can also add to annual sewer-cleaning costs.
Coun. Steve Robinson saw some of the effects firsthand.
“Just to let you know, most of that sand and salt mix ended up on my front lawn,” he said.
Under the proposed five-year agreement, Smiths Falls will pay $134.82 per tonne for road salt during the 2026-27 winter, up $27.99 from the previous contract price of $106.83 per tonne.
The alternative was considerably more expensive.
Compass Minerals was the only bidder on a joint Lanark County tender and initially submitted a one-year price of $174.14 per tonne, about 63 per cent above the previous rate.
According to McMunn’s report, Cargill and Windsor Salt, the other two major road salt suppliers in Ontario, did not bid because of ongoing supply constraints following high salt consumption during the previous winter.
Lanark County subsequently worked with Compass on a five-year option that spreads additional supply costs over the term of the contract.
Under that agreement, the price begins at $134.82 per tonne this winter and increases by 2.7 per cent annually, reaching $149.98 per tonne in 2030-31.
The contract is expected to increase the town’s 2027 road salt budget by approximately $40,000 compared with the amount budgeted in 2026. Choosing the one-year contract at $174.14 per tonne would have increased the budget by approximately $88,000.
McMunn said the five-year arrangement provides greater certainty over both price and supply.
Carleton Place is the exception among the participating municipalities, opting for the higher-priced one-year agreement in hopes market prices decline in subsequent years.
Coun. Chris McGuire asked whether lessons learned during last winter’s shortage could help Smiths Falls reduce its salt use in future years.
McMunn said that, for the most part, operations will return to normal.
“For all intents and purposes, it would be back to the status quo,” he said.
The town must meet provincial minimum maintenance standards, although McMunn said municipalities have discretion over what material they use to meet those requirements. Temperature and road conditions also determine whether crews use straight salt or a sand-and-salt mixture.
Coun. Peter McKenna called the 26.2 per cent price increase “a little shocking” and said it illustrates how municipal inflation can outpace increases experienced by individual consumers.
The discussion quickly broadened beyond road salt.
CAO Malcolm Morris said increasing prices for salt, fuel, insurance and other municipal expenses are creating significant pressure heading into the town’s 2027 budget.
“It’s hardly affordable, but it’s predictable,” Morris said of the five-year salt contract.
He warned council that increases of this magnitude cannot simply be matched with equivalent property tax increases.
“Twenty-six per cent increases, we can’t come close to that in terms of a tax rate increase, nor would we necessarily want to, but that’s our reality,” Morris said.
Morris said the town appears to be tracking toward a 2026 surplus that could be in the range of a couple hundred thousand dollars and should be able to absorb higher fuel costs this year. But he warned the picture will be different in 2027.
“The number for 2027 is going to look remarkably different,” he said.
Staff plan to bring council a report in October outlining budget pressures ahead of the 2027 deliberations.
“This isn’t about doom and gloom, but it’s the reality we need to face,” Morris said.
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