By MATT STILES
The Houston Chronicle
Copyright 2006 The Houston Chronicle Publishing Company
All Rights Reserved
A new city-county jail facility and an upgraded radio system for emergency personnel would be key future projects if Houston voters approve a $625 million bond referendum on the November ballot, Mayor Bill White said Tuesday night.
His plan, which would finance capital improvements through 2013 without requiring a property tax increase, is heavy on public works projects like streets, bridge and storm drainage rehabilitation.
But nearly a quarter of the proposed spending, about $135 million, would pay for public safety projects for police, fire and emergency medical services.
The bond measures, which will be on the ballot as propositions A-F, were the subject of a public meeting Tuesday night at City Hall. A handful of supporters spoke before City Council.
“The eight ballot measures allow us to invest money in public safety and the quality of life and the economy in Houston,” White said, referring to the bond issue and two other measures on the ballot, propositions G and H.
The police, fire and EMS portion of the plan, White said, “is the largest bond issue that we’ve ever had on public safety.”
That proposed investment, city officials say, includes about $31 million for the city’s portion of a new joint jail facility in cooperation with Harris County, and another $34 million “down payment” to pay for upgrades to the radio system used by the police and fire departments.
Two more public hearings on the election are scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday and 9 a.m. Oct. 18.
The mayor’s political action committee, Citizens to Keep Houston Strong, recently launched a television commercial urging passage of the measures, which he said would allow for a “stronger, safer” Houston.
“Let’s make life harder for criminals, and better for the rest of us,” White says in the ad.
He ends by squaring to the camera and stating, “Criminals, get packing, because we’re coming at you with more.”
`We need all of it’
November is the first time voters have been asked to consider a city bond measure since 2001, when they approved about $776 million for similar projects under Houston’s capital improvement plan.
About 40 percent of that bond financing hasn’t been designated for specific projects, city officials said.
The proposal on the ballot would pay for improvements through 2013, city officials say.
“We need all of it,” said Barbara Miller, president of the Greater Fifth Ward Super Neighborhood Council No. 55, who spoke at the meeting.
“All of these issues in the bond election are important to us,” she said.
City officials settled on a smaller bond amount for this election because of the leftover approval from 2001, and because they wanted to pay down the debt without raising the property tax rate.
In addition to the public works and public safety projects, the plan also calls for future financing of parks, housing, libraries and other general government improvements.
“The library facilities take a lot of wear and tear over time,” said another speaker, Franklin Jones, who chairs the Houston Library Board. “There is still much work that needs to be done to meet the needs of our customers.”
Proposition H
The other measure discussed Tuesday night, Proposition H, would allow the city, if necessary, to collect and spend $90 million on public safety above a revenue cap imposed by voters in 2004. White said that measure also wouldn’t require a tax increase.
That 2004 cap, known as Proposition 2, would be changed under White’s proposed amendment to the City Charter, on the ballot as Proposition G. The amendment, which has drawn criticism from the limited-government advocates who pushed Proposition 2, would exempt from revenue limits the city’s “enterprise” funds.
Those funds pay for the city’s airports, water and sewer system and convention facilities with fees, not property taxes, and White has said the caps could hurt future growth in those functions.
Proposition 2 requires public hearings on the bond and public safety spending measures. No public hearing is required on Proposition G.