West Houston's position on Proposition 1: For Better Streets and Drainage

For Better Streets and Drainage

The West Houston Association is strongly supporting Proposition 1, the City of Houston Charter Amendment proposal for funding road and drainage infrastructure. Here is why: when something is broken or does not work, fix it. Without the means to fix the problem, renewing Houston will remain only a pipe dream.

The proposed pay-as-you-go, dedicated fund financed 60 percent from existing revenue sources, a new drainage user fee and impact fees for new development will improve, repair and replace 70-80 percent of Houston’s street and drainage systems over the next 30 years. Houston would indeed “renew” itself. As any driver of Houston streets and many property owners in the City can attest, too many of Houston streets are in deplorable condition. Due to inadequate or obsolete drainage in some areas, what should be an easily manageable rainfall regularly translates into damaged property. Further, flooded streets severely restrict the movement of emergency vehicles, at times they are needed most. The proposed Charter Amendment is the only way any real progress can be expected by citizens who often complain the most about these conditions.

Currently there are no predictable sources of funds to address this problem. Because of other budget priorities over the last 20 years, the City has committed less than $100 million per year for street and drainage work. This sounds like a lot of money, but in a city the size of Houston the needs are far greater. The City’s own facilities inventory (GASB-34 Report) shows the current value of its aging facilities to be approximately $10 billion. Do the math. We need $400-500 million per year over the next 20-30 years and we are funded at less than $100 million per year. At its historical funding levels, Houston will never make any significant progress on the repair, replacement and upgrades needed for our streets and drainage systems. In fact it will not even keep pace with the rate of deterioration that worsens as systems age.

West Houston Association’s support for this proposal is explicitly conditioned on the establishment of a dedicated fund by the charter amendment that protects the funds for their intended purpose. And, that the user fee being applied to all properties in the city—residential and commercial, public and private. While these fees are common in most major American cities this is a first for Houston, and the key to making the program work.

There are some who are trying to posture this proposal as a new tax, and worse a backdoor tax on non-taxable entities. The proposed Charter Amendment requires City
Council to establish a drainage user fee that will fund approximately 40 percent of the total program. Under the Mayor’s plan the user fee is based on the amount of storm
water run off a land owner contributes to the city’s drainage systems. The concept is not new; Houstonians pay monthly user fees for water and sewer service. Incorporated in these fees are funds to renew, replace and expand those systems. Streets and drainage should be treated the same way. Citizens, school district busses, church parishioners, they all use the city streets, and rain water from their properties drains into the city storm sewers. It is critical to the success of the program that all users of the system bear their fair share of the burden. Exempting certain users from paying their fair share means the remaining users (primarily homeowners) have to pay a higher price and this is simply not fair.

In addition new development will pay its share for new impacts on the systems. The process for creation and implementation of impact fees is governed by state law. The
city will have to follow these laws in administering this part of the proposal, providing additional safe guards for property owners.

Ad valorem taxes are based on assessed values, which over time can go up as market conditions improve; in other words “tax creep”. The proposal calls for a user fee. Once set by City Council it can only go up, or down, by an act of Council. Under the proposed Charter Amendment the proceeds from the fee will be solely for the enhancement and replacement of street and storm drains in the City of Houston and can not be used for any other purpose.

This will be a significant program that finally will take care of Houston’s most critical infrastructure problems. It will create many jobs in Houston. The alternative: Left
unattended our streets and drainage systems will continue to deteriorate at an increasing rate and at a cost we can’t keep up with.

No one likes paying more fees anymore that they like having to re-roof their house. But eventually a new roof is necessary or everything in the house is at risk. Like a house, streets and drainage infrastructure must be maintained and at some point repaired or replaced when it wears out. We are confident that this plan will allow the City of Houston to finally do just that. This is simply good public policy.

* * *The West Houston Association is a non-profit organization established in 1979 and is comprised of firms and organizations dedicated to quality growth in the region. Its mission is to aggressively pursue public policies that enhance quality of life, quality growth and promote economic development in one of the fastest growing areas in the United States. http://www.westhouston.org/ 820 Gessner Ste. #1310 Houston, TX 77024