1. The current bill that's floating around the Texas Legislature is not "pension reform". It's a funding mechanism to kick the can down the road until more revenue can be raised.
2. The current budget is designed to make Houston residents pine for increased services. It's effects were calculated to increase the pain.
Turner to use cuts, one-time fixes and reserves to close $123 Million gap. Rebecca Elliott, HoustonChronicle.com ($$$)
The budget itself is a mish-mash of cuts and payment obligation deferments, where Turner is seeking to kick the fiscal can just a little bit further down the road until he can get his vote on removing the revenue cap.
In order to fulfill this thirst for money, the Zoo, the animal shelter and needed maintenance are going to be financially burdened, making already bad problems worse.
Turner, a life-long back-bencher in Texas politics, has a limited ideological toolbox with which to fix this mess. His one-note, unimaginative style of politics only knows "raise taxes" and that's what he's planning to do. In fact, if you own a home in Texas you might want to be braced for your taxes to be increased until your eyes bleed.
Houston needs a LOT of money to meet current and future pension obligations and since the City of Houston generates no revenues to speak of, they can only increase their money by increasing their levels of forced takings from the citizenry. This money will then be given over to the police, fire and municipal employee unions and what's left will be distributed to the political patrons of Houston elected officials.
I expect the developers in town will continue to do OK.
Turner continues to preach about Houston being "competitive" with the local market. He thinks that if the city raises property taxes and other fees people will still stay in the city limits because of the plethora of walking paths and parks they have built.
I've a feeling Turner is 100% wrong. Population trends are already showing people voting with their feet and moving outside the City limits to escape a high-tax environment, shoddy infrastructure and unsafe neighborhoods. Can you imagine this will lessen once Turner pushes through his first massive property tax increase?
Hardly.
Turner is running out of time. And he lacks the political creativity to do anything but throw up proposals to remove the very revenue caps that keep Houston's government in check, if only just.
That's not very world class Houston. Not very wold class at all.
