The City of Fort Worth is presently laying down the groundwork for its Fiscal Year 2025 budget and is poised to pump an additional $10.4 million into street repairs. This chunk of change is coming directly from PayGo funding, which means, more than just a facelift, we're talking about extending the life span of the city's streets and, down the line, saving taxpayers a pretty penny in potential future costs.
The current state of affairs has about 650 lane miles at risk of falling apart over the next five years. To avoid having to fully reconstruct these streets, the additional funding will allow us to not only maintain but also slightly increase the heavy maintenance efforts by 33 lane miles, resulting in a total of 89 lane miles being addressed next year. Targeting street maintenance with these FY25 PayGo funds is expected to "save an estimated $50 million in future reconstruction costs", as per the City of Fort Worth.
Despite needing more dough for these repairs, the city manager's budget recommends holding the PayGo portion at 7.25 cents, up slightly from 7 cents. That's right, you probably won't have to dig deeper into your pockets even though the roads you drive on every day are getting the attention they desperately need. Mayor Mattie Parker and City Council members are on board too, throwing their support behind keeping the tax rate steady, all in the name of benefiting the residents.
The overall picture is one of a city trying to balance growth against financial stewardship. With Fort Worth's proposed FY25 budget clocking in at $2.79 billion, there's a lot more than just asphalt improvements being considered. Water rates are slated to go up by 3.3%, and they're going to nudge wastewater rates up by 2.3%. And don't forget, there's also a 5% increase in stormwater rates coming at you.
