In the years after former Houston mayor Sylvester Turner left office, we have received a full glimpse into just how corrupt, and wasteful, the city of Houston has been with taxpayer money. We have seen bid rigging schemes and scandals come to light, with some former city employees going to prison for fraudulent use of tax money. The former Mayor, who is inexplicably now a congressman, left the city in a financial pit that is pitch dark, and almost impossible to fix.
Enter more bad news, as the Texas Supreme Court has denied an appeal on a long-standing lawsuit, which now requires the city to pay for millions in street and drainage projects. Our budget shortfall has already been increasing, and now it is ballooning out of control. That is without even adding in the $650 million in back pay owed to firefighters. It has put new mayor John Whitmire in an unwinnable position, as he tries his best to balance the damage Turner did.
Former Chair of the Harris County GOP Jared Woodfill says the city has been asleep at the wheel for 14 years now, and the chickens have come home to roost.
"They did not balance their books, or anticipate or prepare for this...so now, the city of Houston is looking at about a $340 million gap in their budget," he says.
These projects add another $100 million or so to a budget that was already $230 million in the hole. The city has said they plan to try and offset that extra $100 million with cash from Metro. But even that is shaky in itself, as Metro has seen declining ridership and financial issues for a decade.
Really, there is only two ways to balance a government budget. You either cut spending, or you raise taxes. There is no third option. Cuts are not something government likes, especially in Houston. We have had administrations that would rather spend millions on LGBTQ initiatives or giving illegal immigrants free money.
So, in the end, this massive project will all likely fall on John Q. Taxpayer.
"That is where we need city government to change...they need to change the way they look at budgeting," says Woodfill. "Instead of looking to raise more revenue on the back of taxpayers, they need to be looking at trimming the fat, getting rid of the corruption, and streamlining agencies...and they do not have a history of doing that."
As we have learned with the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in Washington, the government has done nothing but waste American money for decades now. Spending thousands a month on Keurig coffee cups, and sushi. But now that they are exposed, the gravy train of free government money is coming to an end at the federal level.
That very thing needs to happen in Houston, with our own form of DOGE, according to Woodfill.
"Someone who will go in, look at the spending being made by the city of Houston, and make the cuts necessary...the people of Houston cannot afford another tax hike," he says.
But government is still government. So, instead of cutting unnecessary spending and even auditing what they do have, you are likely on the hook for these street and drainage projects. Unless Elon Musk shows up.
Photo: The Image Bank RF