San Angelo Council OKs $15 Street Fee on First Reading, 4-3

SAN ANGELO, TX — The San Angelo City Council voted 4-3 on Wednesday to approve on first reading an ordinance creating a right-of-way infrastructure fee expected to generate about $10.5 million a year for street and related maintenance. 

Single-family and multifamily residential properties would pay $15 a month per dwelling unit. Nonresidential properties would pay according to one of nine tiers based on estimated traffic demand, ranging from $25 a month for the lowest category to several hundred dollars for high-traffic sites such as large shopping centers. 

The fee would take effect Oct. 1 and first appear on utility bills Jan. 1, 2027. It would be added to city water bills. Schools and master-metered apartments would pay half the regular rate in the first year. 

Council members Mary Coffey, Karen Hesse Smith and Patrick Keely voted against the ordinance. Mayor Tom Thompson and council members Tommy Hiebert, Joe Self and Harry Thomas voted in favor. 

The money would go into a dedicated fund for streets, curbs, sidewalks, ADA ramps and crosswalks, signs, signals, striping, alleys and street lighting. City staff and consultants from Kimley-Horn said the fee is designed to give the street program a stable funding source that is insulated from competing general-fund pressures and inflation. 

Operations Director Patrick Frerich told the council the idea has been discussed since 2018 and was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic and other funding issues. Consultants said the $10.5 million target matches current annual maintenance needs and that the rates use trip-generation data from the Institute of Transportation Engineers rather than property values. 

Coffey and other opponents questioned whether a flat $15 residential rate is fair to owners of smaller or lower-value homes, whether the city could face costly litigation similar to cases in Austin and El Paso, and how the city would handle customers who cannot pay. Staff said the city plans to increase utility-assistance funding through Concho Valley Community Action Agency and will review the fee annually. 

The ordinance still requires a second reading before it can take final effect. The council discussed the fee together with the proposed 2026-27 budget but voted on the items separately.