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Saginaw staff propose monthly street‑maintenance fee to fund repairs
Summary
Public‑works staff urged the council to fund preventive road maintenance with a new monthly fee charged on utility bills; staff estimated a $100k–$200k study and gave a rough $3/month, single‑family example that could generate about $299,000 from 8,307 homes.
Saginaw public‑works officials asked the City Council to authorize a study and consider a monthly street‑maintenance fee dedicated to preserving existing roads.
"All revenue is dedicated solely to repairing and preserving existing streets," said Jared Kirsten, assistant director of public works, as he outlined how the fee would fund crack sealing, overlays and pothole repairs. Kirsten said the charge would be assessed on developed residential and nonresidential properties via the utility bill, similar to the city's drainage fee.
Kirsten and staff emphasized preventive maintenance to extend pavement life and reduce future reconstruction costs. Using Fort Worth's approach as an example, staff said a flat $3 monthly rate on single‑family homes could yield substantial local revenue; "Our current number, we have 8,307 single family homes. So if you did, that'd be $299,000," Kirsten said as a hypothetical illustration.
Council members pressed staff on logistics: current crews number about six covering streets, parks and building maintenance (with only two to three regularly available for roads), equipment needs (rollers, millers) and whether the county could supplement larger projects. Staff estimated an independent trip‑generation study and consultant RFQ process would likely cost about $100,000–$200,000 and take roughly six to nine months to complete.
Members also discussed fairness and legal vulnerability. One council member said industrial users and nonresident traffic (including charter schools) should pay proportionally; city staff said the fee would use a trip‑generation methodology to scale charges by land‑use category. The council asked the city attorney to research legal risk if the city used another municipality's data rather than a Saginaw‑specific study.
Council direction: staff were asked to pursue a formal study, return with estimated revenues and a proposed fee structure, and the city attorney was asked to report on potential legal exposure. No ordinance or fee was adopted at the meeting.
