[stevep001]

City policies on this vary so much that it's impossible to generalize. That said, newer cities often end up forgetting that they need to pay for street reconstruction. The original cost of the street is usually included in the initial price of the house.

Sophisticated cities maintain a model (commonly called a pavement management program) that lets them predict future maintenance cost across the city.

He misses the fact that Ames does get tax money for street maintenance [1] and reconstruction [2]. His estimate for a properly maintained street is quite low -- other Midwestern US cities are able to get 60-70 years from their streets.

He also misses out on special assessments as a source of revenue -- which is very common for residential street projects.

[1] http://www.cityofames.org/home/showdocument?id=22486 page 178 shows state taxes as a revenue source

[2] http://www.cityofames.org/home/showdocument?id=8045 page 91/92 shows a variety of sources, including state taxes

[kevin_thibedeau]

>other Midwestern US cities are able to get 60-70 years from their streets.

By neglecting them when they are horribly cracked and potholed after 25 years. Then they make up for their long term "investment" in concrete by skim coating with asphalt.

[stevep001]

Or by applying maintenance at the right time to keep streets in good condition -- see, for example, the chart here: https://www.bloomingtonmn.gov/sites/default/files/media/PMP-...

If you're curious about your city, key question to ask is whether they have a pavement condition database. If they don't, they have no idea what the right amount of maintenance is. If they do, they should be able to predict whether they are spending at the right rate, and predict the same for the next several years.