Good news for Houston, in particular Sunnyside.
The old landfill in Sunnyside sat closed for 50 years, an enduring reminder of the city’s choice to dump and burn its trash in the historically Black community.
On Wednesday, Houston City Council members took a step toward re-purposing it, voting unanimously to lease the neglected site for $1 a year to a group intending to build a solar farm on it.
Research has shown that solar farms depress home values. But as Mayor Sylvester Turner saw it, the plan offered a chance to take property dragging down a community and re-imagine it for the better.
“A plus for Sunnyside becomes a plus for the city as a whole,” he said.
Charles Cave, a nearby resident involved in shepherding the project, told council members on Tuesday that addressing the property that had become a dangerous eyesore was “well overdue.”
The council will vote later on a specific development plan, but its decision Wednesday marked an important step for those involved, who say they want to see the land change from blight to a showpiece.
The agreement allows companies behind the effort to seek approval from the state environmental agency and power grid managers to build on and sell energy from the 240-acre spot. It covers at least 20 years of operation, with construction slated for 2022.
I’ll have to go read that story about solar farms not being great for home values, but it’s hard to imagine one being worse for them than a former landfill. Good for the city, and good for Sunnyside.
When Adrian Garcia was Harris County sheriff, he wanted to rethink what kind of energy the jail used. Could the building have solar panels? Backup batteries? County leaders then didn’t embrace the idea, he said.
Now a county commissioner, Garcia doesn’t want to miss his chance to help push the county toward directly buying renewable energy such as wind and solar, a potentially significant shift in the so-called energy capital of the world.
“For me,” the first-term Democrat said, “it just makes sense.”
His fellow commissioners unanimously agreed to reconsider how they will purchase power starting in 2023. What direction they’ll take is up for debate. A county working group is looking at options, and commissioners decided to seek a consultant’s help.
[…]
County leaders don’t know yet exactly how they will change their power contract beyond RECs, but they want to be trendsetters, Commissioner Rodney Ellis said. He expects that the commissioners court will come up with a strategy for buying renewables, especially with interest growing at the federal level.
Still, Ellis considers the opportunity part of what needs to be a larger approach. He has proposed the county look into drawing up a climate action plan, as the city of Houston has done, rather than pursue initiatives one-by-one.
“I think we have a responsibility in the energy capital of the world to be proactive,” he said. “Those problems with climate change don’t just vanish; they don’t disappear on their own.”
Their purchasing power matters: Big buyers such as local governments, school districts and retail store chains helped the renewable energy industry grow, said Pat Wood III, CEO of Hunt Energy Network and former chairman of the Public Utility Commission of Texas.
“It’s a vote of confidence for a new industry in Texas that’s homegrown,” Wood said. “To me, I’m a fan. It’s just as Texan as oil and gas.”
RECs are “renewable energy certificates”. As the story notes, the city of Houston already has a solar energy deal, so Harris County is just catching up. Better late than never.
I’m always happy to see more electricity production in Texas. A true “all of the above” approach is what will help keep energy prices low and stable, which benefits all Texans. We should keep in mind however, that intermittent production methods like solar, are fickle, so we still have to be ready with the same amount of on demand capacity in a dependable source, like natural gas fired generators, that can pick up the slack when it’s raining, or at night.
I’d be interested to see the details on how much, the city will financially benefit from this. There will be some jobs associated with the project, and more of them when the site is built out, but how much money will the city see in direct property taxes on the infrastructure that is built out?
As to the property value issue, that’s a double edged sword. Start skyrocketing property values, and you run people out of their houses because they can’t pay the property tax on the new, higher value. All of you OTK denizens of the Heights know what I’m talking about. Y’all gentrified the area and ran all the poors out, so now they have to move to places like Sunnyside.
Maybe that’s why there is so much white guilt here?
Bill…. oddly enough, there’s such a thing as storage batteries for, ya know, when the sun ain’t shining.
Don’t know the details, but generally property taxes aren’t levied on city owned land.
Bill, give me your address I will send you some aluminum foil, seems that you have run out.
FYI, yes poor folks can’t afford the property tax, but they do get to sell at a high price for a very nice profit.
Jules,
That’s true, but businesses pay property tax on “personal” property, in addition to “real” property. For example, let’s say you own a comic book shop, and you rent space in a strip mall. You still get a property tax bill for the display cases, racks, cash register, your delivery truck, and the comic book inventory itself. Your landlord gets the tax bill for the building.
Manny,
Great! They are forced to sell the family homestead, and that still leaves the question of where they move to, with that profit? Do they have to move into an apartment? Home ownership is one of the best ways for people to build wealth, especially multi-generational wealth. It’s why the inheritance tax was such an issue, relating to family farms and small businesses.
Bill, they buy another house with the profit, I know a few people that used to own homes in the Heights, not only did they buy a house as good as what they had but they had money left over. That new house they buy is now their homestead, maybe if you moved out of your mother’s house Bill you would understand the concept.
Bill if the property is “personal property” they don’t pay a tax. If it is “Business Personal Property”, they pay a tax. Texas is one of only a few states that tax that property.
Manny,
Since you insist on dragging down the discourse, I’ll just let you know that my sainted mother is dead, and while you and I have had our disagreements, I have NEVER denigrated your family. Most folks consider that an off limits type thing, but apparently not you. For what it’s worth, I’m an orphan now, and there are no residential basements in the Houston area. I know there are at least a few storm cellars in North Texas, but my people are not from that area. Hope that helps.
You are indeed correct on the difference between personal property owned by an individual and personal property owned by a business. I just wasn’t sure Jules knew that…..most people don’t, unless they own a business and actually have to pay business personal property taxes on their equipment, desks, computers, etc. I wasn’t trying to be condescending, or a smart ass, just putting the info out there.
Good grief, y’all…
Tax Code Ch. 11~
In the state of Texas, “(a) A person is entitled to an exemption from taxation of all tangible personal property, other than manufactured homes, that the person owns and that is not held or used for production of income.”
Question is, on the Sunnyside Solyndra, would they (whoever they may be) be taxed on the 240 acre solar panels if they were not producing income per se, ie. would the production of electricity via the panel(s) generation that’s fed back into the electrical grid be considered income by the property lessee ?
“Question is, on the Sunnyside Solyndra, would they (whoever they may be) be taxed on the 240 acre solar panels if they were not producing income per se, ie. would the production of electricity via the panel(s) generation that’s fed back into the electrical grid be considered income by the property lessee ?”
Unless there is something particular to electric generation that I’m not aware of, the Sunnyside Solyndra (let’s hope this endeavor doesn’t pull a Solyndra and scam taxpayers out of their money) should be paying property tax on all the solar panels, gathering lines, inverters, trucks, and other equipment, whether the solar farm is operational or not. For example, let’s say you own that comic book store, and Dora la Exploradora ordered it closed because of Wu flu. You still are going to be expected to pay the tax on your inventory, shelving, etc., even though you weren’t able to use it to generate one dollar of income.
Again, though, perhaps there are special tax laws for electricity generation that I’m not aware of that would differ from your comic book shop.
RE: Exploradora comic book shop to make a point
Bill: This is a classic example of a biz that can be adapted to operate online and/or curbside/pickup. There is no indoor consumption involved, at best browsing, and that function can be replicated on a website, and made much more efficient through database/multiple search options, not just shelf space or horizontal display with sorting of product by category or genre. And since the local (walk-in) market for this type of product is small, taking it online is — in the long run — the only viable biz model in any event.
Okay, so that does not go to the taxability of the inventory, but a similar criticism can be made of your hypothetical of a shutdown of a type of business that need not be shut down in order to contain the person-2-person spread of COVID.
And what’s up with “Dora la Exploradora”? Are newcomers to this blog supposed to google that?
Wolf,
The point of the comic book store example was to highlight that businesses, even online businesses, are supposed to pay property tax on their personal property. I wasn’t really evaluating the merits of e-commerce vs. brick and mortar sales, although if Kuff wants to make a thread on that, it would be an interesting discussion.
In your on line book seller example, where there isn’t a physical retail location, somewhere, there are actual books on shelves, ready to be packed and shipped to buyers. The online book seller must have a computer or two to take the orders, an inventory of boxes, packing tape, scales to weigh the outgoing boxes for postage, and a vehicle to ferry the shipments to the post office. All that equipment is taxable, whether it’s at a retail establishment, or used for e-commerce only.
Also, for those late to the party:
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo = Dora la Exploradora
It’s just a little joke.
It’s a stupid, racist, misogynistic “joke”.
President Biden today talked about “ending this uncivil war”.
“Jokes” like that do not belong anywhere.
Xi-den talked about ending the uncivil war, but what are his first acts in office? He’s beefing up his foreign shock troops! Flooding the country with Muslims from countries that the O/Biden regime themselves acknowledged were filled with terrorists. Stopping the wall. Opening up the country to new caravans of illegals. Ordering the BP and ICE to stand down and just let those illegals into the country, and let them roam around freely once here. Ending drilling on federal lands and not opening up more offshore drilling….another winning policy that will benefit OPEC, Russia, and, to a lesser extent, China, while making us energy dependent on countries that in many instances, don’t even like us.
The sad joke is that Biden’s most important policies don’t benefit me and you, they benefit people who are not citizens of the United States, and, in many cases, aren’t even IN the US. Congrats, I guess.
So if we can deal with that incredibly sad joke, and we were happy to call Trump “tRump,” “Drumpf,” etc., for the last 5 years, I think we can handle me referring to Lina as Dora. It’s not even really disparaging. Dora is cute as a button, positive, and has a can-do attitude. That’s actually a compliment to Lina to be compared to Dora.
ADORABLE DORA
Jules: Compared to the other stuff being tossed around in this forum, and the belittling of fully-grown if not senior political animals as “childish” not to mention “fascist”, this seems rather harmless. Even if it is not, Hidalgo has chosen to seek public office, and must be prepared to take some flak and derision, however unwarranted. Even non-pachyderms need to have a thick skin in this business.
I am assuming that Bill is alluding to the movie DORA THE EXPLORER.
Can you explain why you feel it’s misogynistic? – Am I missing something?
Bill, how are we to know that your mother is no longer with us, it was but a few months ago how you were writing that you had to be careful because of your mom, in regards to covid.
Sorry to hear about your loss.
Bill, I never used those words, orange buffoon, Russian asset, very often.
As to removing the Muslim ban, it only allows people to travel here to the United States.
As to flooding the country with undocumented folks, that is your head without an aluminum paper wrap. They are already here.
Bill, you lie as often as the orange buffoon. Let me remind people of what you think of brown-skinned folks.
“…give orders for the soldiers to shoot to kill any person entering the kill zone from the Mexican side, period. Women? Children? Old people? Military age males? Waste anyone that crosses from Mexico into the US. Back that up with predator drones . and perhaps an A-10 every 3 or 4 hundred miles, for close air support for larger groups, and you’ve secured the border, with no fences.”
https://www.offthekuff.com/wp/?p=89263
Thanks, Manny. It’s been really, really hard on me. Probably the one thing you and I have in common is a strong bond to family, so I’m sure you can empathize with how I feel these days.
Lobo yes you are missing something, years of reading the hate espoused by Bill. But fascists would probably agree with Bill.
Bill every morning I light a candle in memory of my mother, it helps. I lost both mother and father the same year, 2004. I still light a candle every day. I made her a promise that as long as I was alive she would continue to live in my heart. Of course, I add my dad and I added a sister who passed away five years ago.
Lease the area for $1? This is a terrible deal and this is why the city always says it has no money is because it acts like it’s making decisions like a business, but no business would make this decision except for the business that gets free everything to put in a solar farm, this is the worst business decision. The city brings in no income and they are still responsible for the land. The city would have been better off giving the land away instead of being responsible for whatever is dug up out there.
If solar farms depress values, at least the city could have brought in some income to an already depressed area somehow, that’s what council is there for is to look after the community, not businesses, because no business is responsible for a community.
Lobo, the same reason you are so upset (although for the record, I called your Kumbyya attitude childish, not you). Infantilizing grown women is misogynistic. Judge Hidalgo is a strong woman, and no doubt handles insults like this with grace.
Manny,
Condolences on your losses. Lost my dad years ago, and it still hurts. Good on you for remembering your people with the daily novenas.
CONTRA HEIGHTISM, DIMINUITIVISM, LIGHTWEIGHTISM, ANTI-MILLENNIALISM
Jules: Anyone can be “strong” once they have their hands on the levers of power and preside over a multi-billion-dollar budget.
Let me suggest that “smart” is more important than “strong” (macho), especially when combined with a genuine commitment to the public good and the wellbeing of the people of the community to be served, not just your cronies and clientele.
Hidalgo has these qualities, and many others.
You really ought to rethink your apparently unexamined assumption that a female leader has to conform to traditional notions of “strong” to perform well in a position of leadership traditionally held by a man. Being County judge is a job that requires head and heart, and political skills, not muscle power.
Not to mention endurance in holding marathon commissioners court sessions on Zoom.
For what it’s worth, she also happens to be — to all appearances — physically fit (a runner).
Lobo, wow. I stand by my word choice.
David, the land is a former landfill that’s been unused for decades, and it’s in one of the worst parts of Houston. No one would pay anything for it due to the limited uses. The houses in the area, what few there are, are not worth much. It’s the perfect spot for a solar farm.
Ross,
If the land is so bad, then give it away rather than being on the hook for responsibility of a lease.
If it’s perfect for a solar farm, than its perfect for something coming to the city. They should try to get SOMETHING.
My point is, the city makes it looks like they make decisions based on business strategies and they give away opportunities. If they can make something of a garbage dump, then that would be business, but no business gives away an opportunity, and if they see no opportunity then they’re not making decisions like a business.
They could get a level of ownership of the energy produced, which is sold back to the grid and lower the city’s electricity costs, or lower the electricity costs of the people in the area. Point is they could do something, or they can stop masquerading like they make decisions in a business like manner, cause they don’t.
“Bill, I never used those words, orange buffoon, Russian asset, very often.”
[Insert 2021 spit take here.]
David, ya know what the City should have done ? If no one is applying to be a firefighter due to low wages, knock down the HFD buildings over on Braniff Street and put up a solar farm.
I jest, of course. Point being, your argument about the City’s business (and how it is/isn’t run) is all over the place.
David,
It’s an old trash dump. It’s what we call a ‘brownfield.’ The cost to remediate 240 acres of former trash dump outweigh whatever the property could ever be sold for, and that just brings additional dangers. What are the pollution risks with digging up and trying to move all that contaminated material to another site?
So maybe we can all agree that the site is worthless? The closed dumps over on McCarty are producing methane, that I believe is being sold to Budweiser, to partially run their plant over by 610 East. Perhaps that would be an option for the Sunnyside site? We could drill wells and produce methane gas for sale. That’s one thing that might be done. The solar farm idea is another. Either way, the Sunnyside dump is what? 50 years old, or more? No one has been beating down the city’s door trying to buy or repurpose it. I think you dramatically overvalue the property. No one would want to actually own it and assume the environmental risks it may pose in the future.
So, what upside does the city get out of this, besides getting some new jobs? As we are discussing, hopefully property taxes will be paid on the newly built solar infrastructure. Could the city have demanded some percentage of the energy produced as a royalty payment also? Maybe, but we’d have to know if this project would be profitable without getting the land use for free, for starters. I look at roof top solar for my house every few years and I never see any decent ROI potential. Is there even enough money to potentially be made from the solar farm for the CoH to take a cut of the action?
Is it possible that the CoH left money on the table here? Sure. We don’t know the details, so we’re really just guessing here. I’d say even if they did, assuming the property tax base will be expanded, the as is deal, is an improvement over what was before.
RE: “No one would want to actually own it and assume the environmental risks it may pose in the future.”
Good point. Actually, current risk, not just future. The bad stuff is already in the ground, like at various Superfund sites in the area. While I have no special knowledge of the matter, I would imagine that the property could have negative market value, i.e. to transfer to private ownership (and potential liability that travels with the land), you would have to pay someone. As for a lease in the amount of $1, I suspect it merely serves to satisfy the legal requirement that any contract (a lease is a contract) be supported by “consideration” (something of value in exchange), legally speaking. It’s sort of pro forma and in effect for nothing. (With apologies to Jules, who might interject that we all know what consideration is).
Lobo, no worries. It seems that some people here do need words defined for them. For example, the word “strong” is neither a word that exclusively describes men, nor is it a synonym for “macho”.
“Strong” can describe many things that don’t mean physically muscular, from a strong cup of coffee to a strong work ethic, to an inner strength that allows a person to not be bothered by childish putdowns (which is how I meant it).
Bill,
Propane used to be a worthless byproduct of oil drilling, now it is big money.
Space for sun exposure to collect electricity is overlooked and, with a future outlook, obviously worth money. The company proposing the operation already knows it. The company should already target areas like this dump for cheap land, thus, the land has value or the company would not be interested. I don’t think the city giving away this value to be worked into a company’s business plan is in the city’s best interest, especially when it deals with the future.
If people accept it as being worthless, then that’s what they’ll get, but if a company can come in and establish a solar farm and make money off of it, then why doesn’t the city establish a solar array to lower it’s electric bill?
I also think this trade off of giving away public assets for the hope, not promise, of jobs and sales tax dollars exposes the city to greater risk. If those jobs, or those sales tax dollars, are not realized, then the city is out those dollars. I would like to see where this train of thought advances the city’s finances the way it is advertised because, if it’s true, this city should not be in such bad financial situations.
If the city established a solar farm with the goal of lowering their electric bill, and being more green, then the city would have a guarantee benefit, and not a hope. I still think the city does not run itself like a business the way they present themselves, but they give away assets so other businesses are successful and the city, and taxpayers, foot the bill. TIRZ are in this category also.
David,
What happens when you don’t pay your property tax on your house for a few years? Eventually, gun toting constables come and evict you, and the government takes your house. So let’s say the solar company comes in, builds out a solar plant, then fails to pay the tax on the equipment. In a few years, the CoH, or HISD, or whichever taxing entity takes the lead on foreclosures, will sue for the taxes owed, and either collect, or they will take ownership of the solar farm. At that point, the solar farm WILL be a government asset entirely.
There’s a win-win scenario here. Either taxes are paid, OR the government seizes the property and converts it for use and ownership by the government.
And once again, we are merely speculating on the terms of the actual agreement. We don’t know whether or not there are any royalties that will be collected by the city or not.
This would make an excellent topic for Kuff to investigate for us, it seems to have a lot of interest here from all sides.
Keep in mind this is the same area that Mayor Turner wanted to build the new Sunny Side community center until the neighbors and community raised hell. Ultimately a church used land for the city to build on, so the Mayor sees this land as having enough value for a community center, but zero value when donating it to a business.
Historical, textbook. economic discrimination.
ON OUR DISCOURSE PRACTICES
Re: “Strong” can describe many things that don’t mean physically muscular.
Jules: Unlike some people, I don’t reflexively disagree with you in knee-jerk fashion. Same as to the contributions of Manny or Bill.
Suppose “Il Duce” Benito Mussolini said “due e due fanno quattro” (2+2=4 in Arabic). Would he be wrong because Benito-not-Benedicto was the historical role model for many lesser fascists? Or would Bill Daniels have any valid grounds to reject the Arabic transliteration based on his strong anti-Muslim animus? – No.
So, yes, we can agree on things, including different meanings of words, and dictionaries can serves as arbiters of ambiguities. Here, however, you used the term “strong” in relation to leadership and sex of the leader (“strong woman”), so that would be the antithesis of “strong man” in the context of a discussion of the gender/sex and how “they” [using the nondiscriminatory gender-neutral plural] lead.
In the political lexicon, *strongman* has a specific meaning, but the literal meaning is on point as well. It connotes use of force/violence to have your way.
Contrast the strongman/strongwoman juxtaposition with the appellation *mensch*, which – semantically speaking – is gender-neutral (or unisex, if you will) both in English/Yiddish and in German.
DENOTATION AND DESCRIPTION VS. NORMATIVE JUDGMENT
Whether Hidalgo or Abbott deserve the moniker “mensch” would be a more difficult question, and one only Germans would agree on (because in German Mensch just means human being, however communist, fascist, or sexist, which is to say, with no judgment on qualities such as character and other-regarding orientations such as a general humanitarianism).
Substantively speaking, strong does not equate with many other important qualities, such as smarts: Think of the story of David and Goliath in more biblical times when the patriarchy was still popular, if not the law of the land (or the itinerant tribe), and when muscle power was still indispensable to the survival of the race.
Why is “strong man” the opposite of “strong woman”? Wouldn’t that be “weak man”?
Using one word does not mean I don’t think other words are also true. Calling Judge Hidalgo “strong” does not mean I don’t think she is also “smart”, since “strong” and “smart” are not mutually exclusive.
Your petty blather is unconvincing, I stand by my original three-sentence comment.
MAN UP
Jules: You chose to call out someone here as being a sexist, *misogyny* being a form thereof (sexism).
If you want to engage in deconstruction of gendered discourse practices and the under underlying assumptions about gender roles (masculinity and femininity), you should stick by your “guns”, to use a martial term (overused, IMO, in the political realm), and explain what you think makes for a “strong woman” leader, whatever it means to you.
For example, you could compare her to Iron Lady Thatcher and Angela Merkel as modern incarnations of Amazonian archetypes, or to another successful Latina closer to home, a Republican who now sits on the Texas Supreme Court.
So, tell us, what do you think makes for a good county judge, or offer a reasoned critique of her performance in office, preferably focused on a specific policy area (like COVID containment, or eviction prevention), rather than tossing insults at her detractors that add nothing of value to the discussion.
Same goes for Bill, by the way, though it should be noted that “La Exploradora” is not inherently insulting. If he called a Latina leader La Malinche, that would be much more problematic. Would you agree, Manny?
David, you should join forces with Jason Hochman – both of y’all believe you know what’s better for the City than Sylvester and Lina. Perhaps you could offer up some helpful ideas and assorted business strategies at the next City Council meeting.
FYI, y’all. This isn’t a solar project to ‘benefit all mankind’. https://www.solarunitedneighbors.org/sunnyside/
My comment was in direct response to this: “Hidalgo has chosen to seek public office, and must be prepared to take some flak and derision, however unwarranted. Even non-pachyderms need to have a thick skin in this business.”
Nobody ever said that Judge Hidalgo can’t take flak. And whether or not she can take being called Dora the Explorer or not isn’t what makes it misogynistic.
My opinion is that Judge Hidalgo is mentally strong enough (has a thick skin), and that she doesn’t waste a lot of time crying about being called Dora the Explorer. Here is my comment in full:
“Lobo, the same reason you are so upset (although for the record, I called your Kumbyya attitude childish, not you). Infantilizing grown women is misogynistic. Judge Hidalgo is a strong woman, and no doubt handles insults like this with grace.”
I have said that I stand by my use of the word “strong” twice. I have said that I do not want to change “strong” to “smart”, which for some reason you think I should. I do not know why you think I’m not sticking to my guns, nor do I want to read a 500 word theme on why you think that.
This is not “tossing insults”, it is correctly characterizing them: “It’s a stupid, racist, misogynistic “joke”.”
Lobo,
Just so you can judge my relative racism and sexism, perhaps you should see an example of the actual Dora cartoon.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c28INsEsdAk
Note that Dora is perky, cute, and bilingual, saying the same thing in English and Spanish…..just like every press conference Lina gives. You’ll have to decide for yourself if the Dora moniker for Lina is lighthearted and funny, or horribly racist and misogynist.
Bill: That looks more like a Sesame Street cartoon, genre-wise. Cute, and likely quite effective from a pedagogical standpoint. I would recommend it for beginning bilingualists.
Jules (and Manny as well, I guess),
Just curious if y’all find this meme offensive as well:
https://media.communities.win/post/oTJXxjAl.jpeg
Personally, I laughed, but you’re both a bit more sensitive about things than me.
From the Doe look & eye-rolling Department
Here we have a dear “strong leader” video for you-all, especially Jules.
Warning: Also contains faux Trump, Putin, and Boris Johnson content.
Viewer discretion is advised.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5WPVLljm1A
(Angela Merkel’s poker face problem – Tracey Breaks the News – BBC One)