This Spring, Arlington voters will decide the future of the Street Maintenance Sales Tax Program. State legislation allows municipalities to collect a quarter-cent sales and use tax exclusively for street maintenance and rehabilitation of public streets and alleys after voter approval. The tax expires every four years, and its reauthorization is subject to voter approval. Election Day is Saturday, May 13. Early voting starts May 1.

Since Arlington voters authorized the one-quarter of one percent sales tax in September 2002, approximately $40 million has been collected. Since January 1, 2003, when the city began collecting the sales tax for street maintenance, the Public Works and Transportation Department has completed maintenance and rehabilitation on about 800 of the city’s approximately 3,000 lane miles of roadway.

The Street Maintenance Sales Tax program has partially funded a new asset management system, which is helping the City to inventory all streets, signs, signals, lights and pavement markings. As part of the program, a specialized vehicle was deployed on city streets to test and evaluate the condition of pavement.

The purpose of the program is to provide timely and cost effective maintenance of existing public streets within the city limits of Arlington. Street Superintendent Bill Bateman said tax dollars are saved when streets are kept in good driving condition.

"We can help to prevent costly rebuilds by performing preventative maintenance and extending the life of pavement," Bateman said.

Arlington is not the only Texas city with a sales and use tax exclusively for street maintenance and rehabilitation. According to the State Comptroller’s Office, the North Texas cities of Grand Prairie, Haltom City, Lake Worth, Pantego and Samson Park currently have sales tax programs for street maintenance.