Dorset Town Manager Rob Gaiotti said the town was not being offered state price for salt this year by either one of the vendors who provide road salt to the region.
"They wouldn't honor the state price to the towns," said Gaiotti. "As a result of that the price that we're having to buy salt at this fall is up about 12 percent."
Gaiotti said the town is paying $12 more per ton this year than last. Last year the cost of road salt was just below $60 a ton. This year it has risen to $70 a ton - a significant increase considering the town uses between 700 and 800 tons of salt every year.
Furthermore, the town has contracts with both of the vendors who provide the area with road salt. The reason, Gaiotti said, is because one of the vendors could only guarantee a price through November and the other guaranteed the town a price through the winter.
Another line item in the budget that has increased significantly was the one pertaining to health care.
The town is part of the Vermont League of Cities and Towns Health Trust who uses CIGNA Health Care as their provider.
Gaiotti said the town is enrolled in a high deductible plan and is expecting a 20 percent increase in their premiums this year. The sharp increase has the town considering a multiple options.
"We are looking to implement cost sharing with
The town may be considering changing carriers, but Gaiotti said that a change would not be made this year.
"We're pretty happy with the service [provided by CIGNA] and we're hopefully going to look to do some cost shifting and try to do as much as we can," Gaiotti said.
One line item the town has not made a decision about is the one pertaining to parks and recreation options.
Earlier this year economics caused the town to reduce their annual contribution to the Manchester Parks and Recreation Department. Dorset had originally budgeted $54,000 for use of the rec park's facilities, but reduced the amount to $45,000 when they finalized the budget, according to previous reports.
The disagreement centering around the town's annual contribution caused the town to create their own recreation package for town residents.
The town issued surveys to residents to weigh in on the recreation options the town provided this year. Gaiotti said those surveys are due back to the town on Dec. 9 and a discussion would be held sometime thereafter to allow residents to express what options they liked and what they would invest in.
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