As if fuel prices aren’t headache enough for cash-strapped communities, road salt threatens to break budgets during a winter predicted to be long and extra-snowy.

To save money, some road departments say they may re-evaluate their use of salt in the coming months.

“Will be cut back?” said Dom Iarocci, Ashtabula’s public services superintendent. “It depends on the type of winter we have. It’s a possibility.”

Customers who didn’t lock in prices with suppliers earlier this year are finding the cost of the ice melter has nearly doubled. Last winter, Conneaut’s Public Works Department paid $33 a ton for salt. The going price is now $66, Bob Howland, department director, said recently.

The city of Ashtabula, along with the Ashtabula County highway department, are paying comparable prices. “It’s pretty scary,” said Leroy McNeilly, the county’s chief deputy engineer.

The price hike isn’t caused by a shortage of road salt, but difficulties in shipping it from mining sites. Communities who pre-ordered or took deliveries earlier in the year saved big bucks, officials said.

Ashtabula paid $35 a ton for a 1,100-ton shipment received awhile ago, Iarocci said. The city typically uses between 3,000 and 4,000 tons a season, so the early delivery is a good start, he said.

The county has an agreement with the Ohio Department of Transportation for its road salt, McNeilly said. County trucks spread approximately 3,300 tons of salt during winter for the past 11 years, he said.

To save money and stretch its stock, the county sometimes mixes sand with the salt, McNeilly said.

“We don’t use pure salt,” he said. “It makes the allocation go a lot farther.”

Pre-orders have put the county in a good position, McNeilly said. A good supply, purchased before the price jump, is on hand, he said.

“We should be set for the winter,” McNeilly said. “I anticipate we’ll be treating our roads as we always do. We saved a lot by ordering in advance.”

ODOT was also able to fill its bins and barns at the lower price, said Paula Putnam, District 4 spokeswoman. Ashtabula outposts have more than 12,700 tons of salt already in place, and another 31,000 tons have been ordered and being delivered daily, she said.

Last winter, ODOT used the competitive bidding process to secure a $42 per ton price for salt, Putnam said. This year’s average price is $62 per ton, she said.

The state will use a “smart salt strategy” to trim its salt usage from the 700,000 tons spread on state highways during a typical winter, Putnam said. Trucks will coat roads with brine in advance of a storm; use special calibrated spreaders and ice-detecting sensors to prevent waste; and include additives — including grits and a “beet juice” substance — along with salt in its battle against slippery roads, he said.