Boykins Pitches Trash Fee to Pay for Firefighter Raises. HoustonChronicle.com
Houston City Councilman Dwight Boykins on Thursday proposed charging property owners a monthly garbage collection fee to finance raises for firefighters while avoiding job cuts for other city staff.
Under the proposal, most Houston homeowners would be charged a flat, monthly fee between $25 and $40 to help the city absorb the cost of raises for firefighters mandated by the pay parity charter amendment approved by voters last month.
That, is one big tax for trash. Should it pass I propose naming after Councilman Boykins. the Boykins Trash Tax if you will. What a legacy.
This is not a new idea, nor an especially clever one, and the same argument that always bubbles up to the surface for this tax is "well, every other city is doing it".
Houston is the only big Texas city without a garbage fee. Austin charges a monthly garbage fee of between $25 and $50, San Antonio charges roughly $20, Dallas charges $27 and Fort Worth charges between $12.50 and $23.
Which begs the question: If every other major city razed 4 blocks of downtown would what passes for Houston leadership (and the Chronicle) think it to be a good idea to follow suit? "Everyone else is doing it" is usually a pretty shitty reason to do something. It's also an indication of weak and ineffectual leadership (HALV)
Per the article Turner has come out against this initially. It matches with his rhetoric on the issue that it's the firefighters that should be punished the most. I doubt that Turner is ideologically opposed to taxing resident's trash, its just that he would prefer the monies generated to go toward other things than firefighter pay. They're not getting off the hook that easily mind you.
The irony is, given the political climate in Houston today I would imagine one could find pretty decent support for a trash tax from the voters, especially if you linked the revenues to flood mitigation or (even better) some type of green initiative. If Houstonians thought they were receiving a benefit from it they would probably support it by around 2/3rds. I'm not sure the Boykins Trash Tax is what they envisioned.
The article goes on to mention another truth: Imposing a trash tax has long been a goal of progressive leadership in Houston. Bill White wanted it, Annise Parker wanted it, and Sylvester Turner wants the tax but he has plans for that revenue that does not include letting the firefighters get off scot free for defying his will.
Do I think this will fly? No, for all of the reasons listed above. Do I think it COULD fly if the revenues were tied to say....storm drain cleaning and other flood mitigation projects? Sure, but that's not what Houston is being offered here.
Also, here's a better write up on the tax from Charles Bain:
Council Member Wants to Tax Your Garbage.
