Street Maintenance Fund

In January 2019, the City of Abilene began collecting a Street Maintenance Fee, paid by utility customers within the city limits, for the purpose of establishing a Street Maintenance Fund dedicated to the management and care of City streets. In the fall of 2019, Abilene residents saw work begin on the first Street Maintenance Fund project, funded through the Development Corporation of Abilene's contribution to the Street Maintenance Fund.

Contact Us

If you have questions or concerns, please email the Street Maintenance Fee information line. You can also call Public Works at 325-676-6281, which is available Monday through Friday from 8 am to 5 pm.

Billing & Collection Fee

The Street Maintenance Fee is collected with the monthly municipal account statement, and shall be due upon receipt - beginning with the first utility bill after January 1, 2019. View the Fee Schedule for rates.

Recovery of Unpaid Fee

Any fee which is not paid when due may be recovered in action at law by the City. In addition to any other remedies or penalties provided by this section or this Code, failure of any customer of the city utilities to pay the fees promptly when due shall subject such customer to the discontinuance of utility services provided by the City.

Disposition of Fees & Charges

The fees paid and collected by this section shall not be used for the general government administrative purposes of the city, except to pay for the equitable share of the cost of accounting, management and government. Other than as described above, the fees and charges shall be used solely to pay for the:

  • Actual Costs of Operation
  • Additions
  • Development of Guidelines and Controls
  • Engineering
  • Extensions
  • Improvement
  • Inspection
  • Maintenance
  • Planning
  • Renewal
  • Repair
  • Replacement and Reconstruction of the Transportation System and Their Related Costs

General Exemption

Properties owned by the United States of America, the State of Texas, an agency, or institution created by the State of Texas, or a political subdivision of the State of Texas are exempt from the payment of the street maintenance fee.

New Business Exemption

A property that establishes a new Utility Account for the purposes of starting a new business within the City of Abilene on or after January 1, 2019, is exempt from the Street Maintenance Fee until the third anniversary of their utility start of service. This exemption shall not be applied to the same Utility Account more than once. The City Manager shall determine if the business constitutes a new business. The decision of the City Manager may be appealed to the Street Maintenance Advisory and Appeals Board.

Street Maintenance Advisory & Appeals Board

Members

The Board shall be comprised of seven voting members, who will be appointed by the Mayor and confirmed by an affirmative vote of at least four members of the City Council. All voting members of the board shall be residents of the City of Abilene.

Director of Public Works

The Director of Public Works for the City of Abilene, shall be an ex officio, non-voting member of the Board and may act in an advisory capacity to the Board.

Overview

The Board shall:

  • Advise the Director of Public Works, as may be necessary from time to time, to identify and determine the sequencing of street maintenance projects, and thoroughfare alignments
  • Recommend a list of projects for funding to the City Manager for incorporation into the city's annual budget
  • Advise the Director of Public Works in determining accountability criteria to measure the performance of the City's street maintenance program
  • Submit an accountability report to the City Council on an annual basis
  • In the event the City Council adopts a Street Maintenance Fee, serve as a final appeals board for any land use category classification disputes arising from the administration of the street maintenance fee program
  • Aid the Director of Public Works in establishing new land use categories, amending land use categories, and determining trip factors based on the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) Trip generation Manual 9th Edition to the same

The Board shall follow the Rules of Procedure adopted by the City Council, as applicable, for its rules of procedure.