West Jordan's entire fleet of plows was on the roads that night, Peters said. Drivers worked overtime, and two mechanics were called in to deal with broken radiators and failing hydraulics.

With costs mounting, the season has some cities looking for creative ways to stretch a dollar.

A year after Kaysville went over its snow-removal budget by $125,000, the city decided to plow less in an effort to save more. During a storm last month, it saved about $7,000 by only plowing major roads, officials told the Deseret News.

This winter, cities have also had to deal with rising salt prices, officials said.

In the Midwest and along the East Coast, a salt shortage has driven prices up by more than $100 per ton from last year. But in Utah, where cities have access to salt from the Great Salt Lake, transportation costs have added another $3 to $10 per ton to the price, officials said.

In Riverton, public works director Brent Bennett has already purchased more salt this month than he usually buys in an entire year. He said he expects to exceed his $53,000 salt budget by a few thousand dollars.

"Unfortunately we're still in December," Peters said earlier this week. "We have a couple months of snow ahead."

---

E-mail: afalk@desnews.com

---

Contributing: Rebecca Palmer, Jared Page