The Lubbock City Council has deferred a decision on a proposed alley paving program, opting to revisit the matter on June 9. The initiative would allow neighborhoods to petition for alley improvements, requiring a majority of homeowners on a block to agree. Initially, property owners were expected to cover the full cost. However, Assistant City Manager Erik Rejino identified a state statute limiting the homeowner share to 90%, necessitating city funding for the remaining 10%.
Mayor Mark McBrayer addressed concerns about costs for residents opposing the work. He explained that homeowners could pay the debt over one year or have a lien placed on their property, which would be settled upon sale. “If the person just says, ‘I don’t want to pay it at all,’ my understanding is then the lien would go on the property, and that lien would be paid again when the property is transferred through a sale or something else,” McBrayer said. “The person actually if they don’t want it, they’re still going to get it paved if they’re in that third. It would still be paved. They wouldn’t have to actually pay anything. When they sold the house, that’s when the money would be collected, at that point, paid by the person purchasing the property.”
The council will reconsider the measure on June 9.