Special Districts > Operations Division > Roads

The Department of Public Works for the County of San Bernardino is responsible for maintaining over 3,000 miles of road within the County maintenance system.  However, there are thousands of miles of road that are not the responsibility of the County Transportation Department.  Who maintains these roads?  In many instances there is no governmental agency that provides maintenance, so the property owners are responsible for the maintenance of these roads sometimes through homeowner associations or many times by simply “passing the hat “ among all of the neighbors.  However, there is a program that brings together government and property owners to provide a custom road maintenance program designed to provide only the level of service that is desired by the property owners. This is accomplished through the formation of a road maintenance district. 

A road maintenance district is a Board of Supervisors-governed entity that provides specific services to the roads within a specified boundary established by the property owners.  The level of service is determined by the needs and desires of the property owners and what they are willing to pay on an annual basis.     Unlike roads that are within the County Transportation Department’s maintenance system, road maintenance districts do not receive any funds from gas tax revenue.  All funding is generated from the property owners receiving benefit within the district. In order to form a Road Improvement District please see the section on road improvement district formations.

Services that a district receives may include periodic road grading, snow plowing and road paving and on-going maintenance.  The cost for providing services is placed on the property owners annual tax bill.  In addition to the actual costs for services, Special Districts charges annual administration fees.