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Construction workers remove debris during road work on Avenue G in southeast Fort Worth March 26, 2024. (Emily Wolf | Fort Worth Report)
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City staff proposed a new property owners fee to address a projected $66 million annual gap between the funding necessary for improvements to Fort Worth’s roads versus the amount of money on hand. 

Council members previously expressed skepticism that a new fee was needed to fund road maintenance. In a presentation, staff told members of the Mobility: Infrastructure and Transportation Committee that it was unlikely property taxes alone could pay for better streets without some kind of trade-off. 

“We would either need to reduce other services currently included in our budget, decrease or eliminate other PayGo areas, or increase the property tax rate,” said Ashley Clement, assistant director of the FWLab, which oversees the city’s budget. 

The new fee would allow the city to keep up with street maintenance across Fort Worth’s 8,100 lane miles. The fee would collect additional revenue from property owners based on their usage of Fort Worth streets. Data collected by the city recently revealed that 650 lane miles will need to be fully reconstructed if the city continues to delay maintenance of its streets. 

Staff attribute the gap in funding to population growth and inflation. 

The benefits of the proposed rate structure include basing the charges on industry-standard guidance on trip generations and publicly available data. 

Council member Elizabeth Beck, who represents parts of central Fort Worth, questioned how the city tailored property owners rates based on the type of trip generated by property use: For example, the impact of an 18-wheeler delivering goods to an industrial site versus a small family car running errands. 

The city determines its rate based on the use of the road system rather than weight, said Trey Shanks, infrastructure management leader with consultant Freese and Nichols. He also proposed several possible exemptions, including for residents who don’t use a car. Mass transit users could also apply for a fee exemption or reduction. 

The City Council could also choose to create exemptions for nonprofits, schools and low-income residents. 

The amount of maintenance performed with the fee income will vary based on needs. However, every type of maintenance, from concrete restoration to sealing, will increase if the fee is approved, Lane Zarate, assistant director over Transportation and Public Works, said.

The fee will also fund the additional staff needed to perform the additional work. 

City staff also addressed council members’ concern that this city is not doing enough to pass the bill for new roads to developers and mitigate urban sprawl that creates demand for using roadways. Fort Worth is proposing a revised ordinance to make urban development easier, and increasing the number of mixed-use zoning districts, Zarate said.

“Those are good things that we’re trying to take care of, but the problem is that we already have urban sprawl,” Zarate said. “That means less density, more trips, more maintenance needs.” 

Staff is working with council members to finalize a group of individuals to serve on an advisory group tasked with providing feedback on the proposed street maintenance fee program. There’s no concrete timeline for bringing the issue to council for a vote.