Rugby residents’ purchasing power will pay for city street repairs.

Departing auditor Elizabeth Heisey said a two-phase street repair project will be funded wholly through city sales taxes.

“Tax dollars at work,” Heisey said.

The first phase of the project, which began earlier this summer, involved filling cracks in the streets. The second phase, which is expected to start Monday with crews from Astech Corporation coming to town, will consist of covering streets with a seal coat. The project will take two weeks to complete, and is estimated to cost $1.2 million.

Heisey said 70 percent of monies the city collects in sales taxes are set aside for infrastructure maintenance projects, and that the city has been saving for the project since after the street repair and replacement project in 2009. Heisey also said sales taxes also pay 50 percent of special assessments to reduce property tax burdens.

The 2009 project, which cost an estimated $4.5 million, was paid for by sales taxes and special assessments.