That OTHER election this November..

I know everybody is caught up in the hullabaloo about the Presidential race.. but when we go to vote on November 2nd, there will be a much MUCH more important issue on the ballot next to the Bush and Kerry punch holes.

The city of Houston is planning on amending it's Charter, and we have two options to decide between.

Proposition 1 and proposition 2.

It's probably a bit too early for the firestorm over this issue to engulf this board, unlike the pension vote and light rail initiative which came during relatively uneventful political times but both of these props will have a huge, lasting effect on Houston's economy and tax futures.

I think this is an important issue for any Houstonian.

Have any of you heard anything about it?

Check out the link in my sig if you need info.

 

No, and there probably never will be, but I completely support Prop 1 wholeheartedly.. and the things listed on KHS.com are the straight deal..

I'm not sure if there is a site up for Prop 2 yet.

 

found the prop 2 site

http://www.letthepeoplevote.com/

 

It's too early for that I think.

The ballot language is still being disputed.


--edit

nevermind, the ballot language was settled and can be found on both sites

 

Here's an excerpt from the website that summarizes Prop 1:

"Prop 1 takes specific steps to address rising property tax and water/sewer rates, while preserving the City’s ability to deliver basic, necessary services.

First, Prop 1 caps the annual growth of property tax rates, which have doubled in recent years for many Houstonians. It limits annual property tax increases to either 4.5%, or the combination of that year’s population growth and inflation rate increase – whichever is less.

Second, Prop 1 controls water/sewer rates by limiting annual rate increases. Prop 1 limits annual water/sewer rate growth to the combination of that year’s population growth and inflation rate increase. This allows the City to meet the needs of its growing population while maintaining affordable rates.

Finally, Prop 1 permanently increases the senior homestead property tax exemption to nearly $71,000 by fiscal year 2009. Mayor White believes we have an obligation to our senior citizens, and Prop 1 gives them badly needed help.

Together, these measures take concrete steps to reign in out-of-control property tax increases, while allowing the City to serve the needs of a growing population."



Property tax rates seem to be the real problem here, and Prop 2 doesn't address that, unlike Prop 1. Prop 2 also does not limit sewer/water tax rates, and does nothing to help those who live on fixed incomes, mainly seniors, by raising the homestead exemption to combat property tax hikes.

Prop 2 is actually pretty damned dangerous if you ask me. It places a "revenue cap" on the city. Meaning that if Houston made 1.8 billion dollars in 2005, then that would be it's "revenue limit" and in 2006, any dollar it made over that 1.8 billion would have to be given back to the tax payers. This creates a quicksand effect though, because if we hit an economic downturn and pulled in 1.5 billion, then THAT would become our "revenue cap" and the city would not be able to retain any funds it recieved in the event of an economic boom (such as the boost we got from the superbowl), thus not allowing the city's economy to recover after economic decline. So before you know it, the city's economy keeps sinking, and sinking, and sinking, until it virtually cannot stand up on it's own.

Prop 2 also poses a severe threat to the city's fire, police, and EMS services. Not only would the city's shrinking economy cause cut back's in basic services, but with a rev cap, if Houston were to have a dry spell, the revenues from water would go up (more than half of the city's revenues come from water), thus causing Houston to break the threshold of the revenue cap. Whatever income gained over the cap would have to be redistributed (instead of paying off the cost of water services), but the lack of water and increase in demand caused those prices to go UP.. so now the city would have to cut funding from it's basic services like police protection, fire depts, and emergency services to get under the cap. (about 60% of the city's budget is comprised of these services, so nearly any budget cut would effect these)


There's a lot more to this issue as well, I highly urge you to flip through the links and read it over.

 

wha?

 

Looks like they've started to update the blog, have any of you been writing in to them?