A series of events has some Houston council members sounding the alarm. After increasing police, and fire pay, and settling a water infrastructure lawsuit, they were at odds with the mayor's plan to not increase taxes.
City officials say those three items alone are expected to add nearly $285 million to the next budget.
"Someone's going to have to deal with all of these decisions that we are making today," Council Member Edward Pollard said. "We're putting ourselves in a deeper, and deeper hole without any real explanation on how we're going to get out of it."
The hole that Council Member Pollard said could balloon to nearly half a billion dollars in five years. A figure that has caused one council member to break from the mayor.
Earlier this year, Council Member Sallie Alcorn stood behind Mayor John Whitmire as he laid out his budget proposal. On Wednesday, though, she voted against his plan not to raise taxes to handle future budgets.
"I only have two years here at the horseshoe and I want to do everything I can to keep Houston on a strong financial footing," Alcorn explained. "So, while I have respect, trust and you and your team and your plans to right the ship, I think it's a swing and miss to not bring in the revenue to cover the budget."
Whitmire's team wants to use more than $50 million in reserves to cover the deficit. It would leave the city with about $300 million.
It may seem like a lot, but council members warn it may not be enough if a crisis were to hit. Whitmire says that taxes aren't the answer.
"Folks are worried about affordability, and I want to be held accountable on whether I raise property taxes when there were other options," Whitmire said.
Whitmire says those choices could be more savings through efficiencies. One option he's not considering is a garbage fee, because he says public works doesn't need one.
As far as how else he plans to generate money without raising taxes, he wouldn't say.
"I'd love to go ahead and disclose everything that's in my mind but all it's going to do is politicize the process," Whitmire said.
Alcorn says if they increased taxes to the highest amount possible without a public vote, it would've meant the average homeowner would've paid about $2.85 more a month. Instead, council decided to keep the rate the same that homeowners are already paying.
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