Chapter 9: Local Government Assistance Program

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Section 1: Overview

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County Assistance

The Local Government Assistance Program was established in 1997 under Transportation Code §201.706 and requires the Department to assist counties with materials to repair and maintain county roads giving preference to counties with an above average number of overweight trucks receiving weight tolerance permits. The legislation requires, after 1999, that at least $6,000,000 worth of assistance, in the form of materials, be provided to the counties each fiscal year.

The rules for this program ( 43TAC §29.3) provide the procedure to be used to determine the allocation to each county. Maximum use of surplus materials on hand is expected to meet the allocations. Surplus materials are materials that the District Engineer deems to be in excess of the district’s need. New materials will be made available when surplus materials on hand are not available in sufficient quantities or the haul distance or cost is prohibitive.

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Program Allocation Method

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  • 65% of the allocation is based on the county's percent of the total number of weight tolerance permits issued in the state.
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  • 20% of the allocation is based on the county's percent of the total vehicle miles on county roads in the state.
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  • 15% of the allocation is based on the county's percent of the total lane miles of county roads in the state.
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Division Responsibility

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  • Beginning of the fiscal year, calculate the value of assistance for each county based on the program’s allocation method.
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  • Distribute to the districts’ operating budgets the county value assistance for each district based on the sum total of the counties’ allocation within the districts.
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  • Notify the districts by memo the value of assistance for each county within the district.
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District Responsibility

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Assistance to Cities

Under various riders to the biennial General Appropriations Act, the Department has been authorized to assist the cities with the maintenance of city streets by providing engineering and maintenance expertise on roadway maintenance. Surplus materials will be given to a local government upon request after the Department has complied with the requirements of Transportation Code §201.706. For those cities that adopt or have adopted either a street use fee for maintenance or a specialized fee for street accessibility improvements as part of their local utility fees, the Department is authorized to coordinate its accessibility programs with those cities including providing engineering expertise where possible.

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