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Texas Department of Public Safety contractors pave the intersection of Austin Street and Pine Street Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2023 in Kermit. The intersection, according to the mayor of Kermit, David Holbrook, is one of the busiest in town with a large majority of the traffic consisting of 18-wheelers hauling sand for the oilfields.

This West Texas town has a lot of money in the bank. Why can't it pick up its trash?

Like local leaders in many other towns in West Texas, the Kermit City Council spent years saving its tax revenue fearing the energy economy would crash. Now it is struggling to keep up with essential services like trash and road repair.


Semi-truck trailers are seen backed in at a rest stop Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2023, in Kermit. Kermit sees a high enough amount of oilfield traffic that members of the local volunteer fire department estimate that nearly seven out of every ten vehicular collisions involve an 18-wheeler.
Mayor of Kermit David Holbrook poses for a photo Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2023, in Kermit.
A lone tree grows in an undeveloped lot neighboring a residential neighborhood Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2023, in Kermit. The Whitetail Development Group proposed a residential expansion to the City of Kermit, asking officials to allot TKTK for construction, but left the land nearly untouched after building a single multi-family housing unit.
Texas Department of Public Safety contractors pave the intersection of Austin Street and Pine Street Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2023 in Kermit. The intersection, according to the mayor of Kermit, David Holbrook, is one of the busiest in town with a large majority of the traffic consisting of 18-wheelers hauling sand for the oilfields.
Oilfield traffic travels east along State Highway 302 out of Kermit, Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2023 in Winkler County.

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