Not surprised, though I’d have thought it would get more support that this.
CM Dwight Boykins
Houston City Council disposed of a proposed garbage collection fee in a pair of 16-1 votes Wednesday.
Councilman Dwight Boykins, who floated the monthly fee as a way to help offset the cost of mandated pay raises for city firefighters, was the only person who voted in favor of the idea.
Most of the council’s members, including Mayor Sylvester Turner, previously had said they would not support the idea, which they called “regressive” and framed as a new tax on Houston homeowners.
Members including Turner reiterated those stances Wednesday before scuttling Boykins’ proposal in two separate votes.
“Let me be clear: the administration is not supporting this,” he said.
Boykins had offered three versions of the measure, with fees of $19, $24 and $27 a month. Council combined the two higher-rate options in one measure before rejecting it in a 16-to-1 vote.
See here for the background. Like I said, I didn’t expect this to pass, but I did think there was a chance it could draw enough support to make things awkward. Clearly, that was not the case. At least now we know, there’s no option to raise revenues on the table, not that this was a good one. It’s either layoffs, as already proposed, or an agreement to phase in Prop B in a way that allows the city to absorb the costs over time. The city says that requires five years, while the firefighters have offered three. Maybe there’s a compromise, and maybe someone needs to blink, I don’t know. But this is where we are. The Chron editorial board, which opposed the Boykins plan, has more.
Houston SHOULD charge for trash pickup, just like every other city. Of course, the revenue collected should be counted in the revenue cap, so there should be a corresponding decrease in property taxes.
Right now, businesses and apartment dwellers are subsidizing homeowners, who get their trash service free.
Houston needs to charge people that live outside the city a road fee, as right now they property owners of Houston are subsidizing those free loading foreigners.
LOL @Manny!
This is what having open borders gets you Manny! We come to your city and use up all your resources, but we don’t pay, and stick you with the bill. This is your dream, for others to freeload!