ST. JOSEPH CO. — In the middle of a hot summer day Thursday, local leaders had snow and ice on their mind and they didn't mind a bit. Because with one contract, Christmas came early.

Rather than buying alone, South Bend and 160 other cities and towns in Indiana combined their buying power to negotiate a better price on road salt.

"Availability and affordability of salt has become an issue in recent years,” said Gary Gilot of South Bend Public Works.

So state government officials organized the effort to negotiate a statewide bid. The result was $8.5 million in savings.

“There are two things that happen when you buy in bulk like this,” explained Mark Severnson with the Indiana Department of Administration during an announcement Thursday. “One, you get a better price, which they’re gonna get. And two, they have an assurance of availability of supply, which was a very difficult thing in the last two winters.”

The City of LaPorte, for example, will save almost $70,000 this year; Elkhart will save $132,000. South Bend ordered 2,000 tons of salt at just under $55/ton — down from $97/ton last year.

The savings, according to the state, for South Bend and St. Joseph County total $750,000.

The city says saving money on salt isn't the only important thing; it's also how they use it. Crews used to just throw the salt straight onto the pavement. Much of it would end up in the gutter line instead of helping with traction.

But turn the salt into a liquid form — the street department calls it a brine — and it spreads evenly on the street and sticks.

"Getting it for a good price is part of the mission and then being really smart about how deploy it, how we use it,” Gilot added.

It's how street crews plan to keep the streets clear this winter, and now they say they'll be able to do it without the salty price.

Not all cities actually paid less, though. Indianapolis, for example, will pay $120,000 more than it did last year. But a spokesperson for the Department of Public Works said had it not joined this group bid, it would’ve paid even more.