Last winter, the price of road salt was triple what it was the previous winter because supplies were short. So why aren't more communities participating in Indiana's joint purchasing program?

"It wasn't just Northwest Indiana that was affected. It was all over the country," said Porter County Highway Department Supervisor Al Hoagland. "I got sick paying $134 a ton, but I've heard from some of my colleagues in the southern part of the state that they would have been happy to buy it at that price."

Last winter, the high price of salt led some road crews to be more sparing in their use of salt on straightaways, focusing its application on bridges, curves, intersections and rail crossings.

"This past winter, too many Indiana communities had trouble getting salt when they needed it," said Mark Everson, commissioner of the Indiana Department of Administration. "Contracting now will guarantee delivery and lock in a reasonable cost."

Rob Wynkoop, deputy commissioner of the state agency, said the state hopes to secure a price at or less than the $55 to $65 a ton the state paid last winter.

Some region municipalities eagerly joined in the state's order, hoping to gain increased advantages from buying in bulk.

"Once we found out what (state officials) were paying for it, we definitely were going to be a part of that bid package," said Lake County Highway Department Superintendent Marcus Malczewski.

The result of the combined purchasing is a request for suppliers to bid on an order of more than 600,000 tons of rock salt.

Communities including Burns Harbor, Cedar Lake, Chesterton, Lake Station, Porter and Winfield didn't join in the bid. In fact, only 131 local government agencies statewide added their amounts to the state's rock salt order.

Everyone benefits when resources are pooled to beef up the purchasers' bargaining power. Communities that didn't jump at the chance to pile on to the state's bid request have some explaining to do.