SPRINGFIELD -- As winter began to arrive last year, some cities across Illinois watched as the price of road salt spiked, leaving them with tough decisions to make about their budgets and snowplowing policies.

This year, though, it appears salt won't pose the problem for public works officials that it did last year because the state says it was able to buy salt a lot cheaper.

That wasn't the case last winter when Attorney General Lisa Madigan's office investigated whether there was price fixing in the salt market. She didn't find any, but an audit criticized the way the state bought salt. Those mistakes led to higher salt prices, the audit found.

This year, roads officials around the state are paying about $60 per ton for salt on average, compared to about $75 last year, said Alka Nayar, a state spokeswoman.

Some places got hit with higher prices last year than others. Moline, for example, paid almost $130 a ton in 2008-2009. That led Doug House, general manager of municipal services, to abandon the state buying method altogether.

This year, Moline has partnered with several Iowa cities, including Davenport and Bettendorf. House said the city will pay about $60 a ton.

"You're holding the public's dollar, and the trust was violated," House said. "We just went out and bid it on our own."

The state audit found economic factors contributed to the salt price spike and that the state's buying process didn't help. Nayar said she didn't want to speculate on why salt isn't costing as much this winter.

"We cannot accurately speculate on the pricing offered by vendors," she said.

Some places though, will see higher prices this year.

Decatur saw a 35 percent spike in costs last year. This year, prices have gone up again, but not as much. Still, salt is 13 percent higher, said Public Works Director Rick Marley.

"Obviously, it's a hit to the budget," he said. "Salt is one of those commodities that we simply can't do without."

Marley said Decatur considered forming a buying group with other Central Illinois cities such as Bloomington. But in the end, going with the state was the better route, he said.

In Bloomington, Public Works Director Jim Karch said salt prices were not a big deal last year, noting the city got in on the first batch from the state, so it wasn't hit with price hikes.

In a perfect world, though, the area won't need much salt this year after such a rainy fall, Marley said.

"Pray for a mild winter," he said.