Houston wants to invest $1M into HTV. Where is the money coming from and how is it being spent?

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Through HTV's social media and website, you can stream city meetings and consume other city-related video content. Now, the city says it wants to spend over $1 million to invest in new studio equipment and upgrade its system to operate in 4K.

However, there is currently no mechanism to support 4K broadcasting from HTV to cable providers, and with the city operating with a $350 million budget deficit, is this the best use of money?

Typically on opposite sides, Houston City Controller Chris Hollins and Houston Mayor John Whitmire's office are in agreement on this, championing a proposed $1 million investment in the service.

Both the mayor's office and Hollins argue that because the money isn't from the general fund and instead funded through public education and government dollars, it doesn't impact the city's budget deficit, which previously prompted Whitmire to call the City of Houston broke.

"A million dollars, all of that is a significant investment for sure. If we didn't spend the money on this, we would not be able to address the deficit with it at all. It's a completely different pot of money," Hollins said.

Public education and government dollars, or PEG, are collected from cable companies. Because only select cable companies are allowed to service customers in Houston, companies pay a tax into this fund to ensure they are one of the few providers. It's money Hollins acknowledges could also be seen as taxpayer money.

"Ultimately, we pay for everything, right?" Hollins said.

Still, Hollins, who oversees city dollars, says HTV is an important city service.

"HTV is part of how we ensure transparency in local government. HTV is a free service offered to Houstonians, where we share about what is happening in the City of Houston," Hollins said.

HTV is a place for you to watch city council and planning meetings and hear directly from your elected officials. Arguably, it's not typically entertaining to watch, and the numbers reflect that. On YouTube, less than 2,000 people are subscribed, and most videos only attract around 50 views.

On Facebook, videos perform better with a couple hundred and sometimes even a thousand people tuning in. However, of the eight reviews on Facebook, two are scams for love spells, and one real person declared the whole program a waste.

Hollins said that even with few viewers, he thinks the upgrades are still worth it.

"Think about it as C-SPAN at the local level, right? I don't spend a lot of time watching C-SPAN, but I am grateful that access is available, so at the highest level of government, we have unbiased access to what our tax dollars are going towards," Hollins said.

ABC13 reached out to the mayor's office, which also says despite the steep price tag, the upgrade is desperately needed.

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