Houston City Council members are still weighing the mayor's proposed 7.5 billion dollar budget, a spending plan that has run into pushback from residents and scrutiny from the city's own financial watchdog. The debate has centered on how the city intends to close a widening gap between what it takes in and what it spends, and who will end up paying for it.
One of the most contested pieces is a proposed 5 dollar a month fee for trash pickup. On Wednesday, council members heard an earful from a steady stream of residents who told them they do not like the idea of being charged for a service many feel they already pay for through their taxes, turning the relatively small fee into a flashpoint in the budget fight.
Also drawing fire is a plan to move money out of water infrastructure to help cover other city services. The city controller sharply criticized that approach, describing it as robbing Peter to pay Paul, a warning that shifting funds away from water systems could create new problems down the road even as it patches the immediate shortfall.
The numbers behind the dispute are striking. The controller and the finance director said the city went into the fiscal year with a proposed deficit of about 76 million dollars, but by the end of the year that gap had grown to more than 180 million dollars. That works out to over 100 million dollars in additional overspending beyond what had been planned.
For the controller, the figures point to a problem that goes beyond the document itself. As the office put it, it does not matter if the city goes through the budget process at all if officials then fail to stick to the budget once it is approved, framing the overspending as a question of discipline rather than just planning.
Defenders of the plan acknowledged it is far from perfect. They said no one pretends the budget solves all of Houston's problems, but argued that by tapping into the combined utility fund it will allow the city to get by for the next couple of years, buying time while officials look for a more lasting fix to the city's finances.
The wrangling fits a familiar pattern for a city that, by officials' own admission, has a long history of financial challenges. The council is expected to take up the budget for a vote next week, a decision that will determine whether the trash fee, the fund transfers and the rest of the mayor's plan move forward as proposed.