Wichita Falls City Services Disrupted by Power Outage

Certain departments unable to accept electronic payments during building-wide outage

Published on Feb. 20, 2026

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The City of Wichita Falls, Texas has announced that a power outage at the Wichita Tower building is impacting several key city departments, including Planning & Building Inspections, Finance, Utility Collections, and Public Works. Beginning February 18, only cash and check payments will be accepted at the Utility Collections and Building Inspections service desks, while other services will be limited. Online and phone payments for Utility Collections will still function normally, and any recent water service disconnections have been restored.

Why it matters

The power outage is disrupting essential city services and payment processing, which could create inconveniences for residents who need to conduct business with these departments. Maintaining reliable utilities and access to city services is critical for the community.

The details

The power outage is impacting the Wichita Tower building, which houses several key city departments. As a result, the Planning & Building Inspections, Finance, Utility Collections, and Public Works departments will have limited services and the ability to only accept cash and check payments at their physical locations starting February 18. However, online and phone payments for Utility Collections will still function as usual. Any recent water service disconnections due to non-payment have also been restored during this outage.

  • The power outage began impacting city services on February 18, 2026.
  • Starting February 18, 2026, only cash and check payments will be accepted at the Utility Collections and Building Inspections service desks.

The players

City of Wichita Falls

The local government of Wichita Falls, Texas, which is responsible for providing essential city services to residents.

Wichita Tower

The building that houses several key city departments that are impacted by the power outage.

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What’s next

City officials are working to determine a solution to restore full services and payment processing capabilities at the affected departments.

The takeaway

This power outage highlights the importance of maintaining reliable infrastructure and backup systems to ensure uninterrupted access to critical city services, especially for essential functions like utility payments and building inspections.