City Council in the mood for spending

One of the budget items approved is $1 million for each district council office to spend on projects for their constituents.

City Council agreed to boost funding for after-school programs, add cameras to catch illegal dumpers and give $1 million to each district council office to spend on projects for their constituents during a marathon session Wednesday to approve Mayor Annise Parker’s $5.2 billion budget.

The budget was approved in a 14-3 vote that followed council members slogging through 63 amendments they and their colleagues had proposed to Parker’s spending plan for the fiscal year beginning July 1.

Council members interested in new programs bested those interested in controlling spend- ing, despite ample discussion of the deficits looming in the coming years.

Parker said council’s decisions concern her, given the warnings of trouble ahead, and said some “naivete” exists around the table on budgeting.

“Council members were clearly in a mood to spend rather than save,” she said. “They see the economy, they see things are picking up. They also see a lot of needs and they want to respond to those needs, and it’s very hard to say, ‘But we have a rainy day down the road, you need to put some money aside for that.’”

The coming challenges are driven by soaring pension and debt costs and the impact of a

decade-old, voter-imposed cap on city revenues that is expected to force a cut in the property tax rate next year. Houston next summer is expected to face a nearly $ 150 million gap between revenues and expenses in its general fund, which is fed mainly by property and sales taxes and funds basic services. That exceeds the gap during the economic recession, when Parker laid off 776 workers.

The largest amendment passed Wednesday was Councilman C.O. Bradford’s idea to give each of the 11 district council members $1 million to spend on local issues, from mowing overgrown lots to fixing sidewalks to razing dangerous buildings.

“I don’t want this splashed around the media as a slush fund. That’s not what it is,” said district Councilwoman Ellen Cohen, who supported the amendment. “This is discretionary funds we can use in our district to expedite some of the issues. I have 80 civic clubs in my district. I promise you I hear from all of them what they need.”

The $11 million will be drawn partly from money that would have been saved for next year in Parker’s budget, and partly from the city’s capital spending plan, which comes to a vote soon. Parker said council members’ spending requests from the funds, to be legal under the City Charter, will need her approval. Expenditures topping $50,000 will need council approval, as with all other city spending.

Councilmembers quickly found uses for the cash. Councilman Robert Gal- legos, for example, withdrew a request to increase animal control funding, saying he may use some of his funds for that purpose.

Councilmen Stephen Costello and Jack Christie voted against the idea, pointing to the coming budget challenges.

“Save it for a rainy day, because it’s going to be raining these next few years,” Christie told his colleagues.

Costello raised the same issue as the council added $250,000 to the $5.1 million budgeted for after-school programs and approved $250,000 for cameras to catch illegal dumpers. Costello later led efforts, however, to double workforce development nonprofit Capital IDEA Houston’s $250,000 allocation.

One cost-saving amendment passed: The city will save any funds it collects in excess of what officials project will be collected during the fiscal year.

“We do have money now, but we’re not projected to have any next year,” Councilman Oliver Pennington said in advocating for spending cuts. “We’re in a crisis right now and we need to do something to make everyone realize it, our employees, the people at this table andthe citizens of Houston.”

Councilman Dwight Boykins opposed all amendments to cut taxes or control spending.

“In District D I have a lot of seniors and a lot of people hurting,” Boykins said. “We need to help these communities and quit playing politics with this money.”

Other amendments approved were a $50,000idea from Councilman David Robinson to have the city match private funds raised for neighborhood projects, up to $2,500 per item, and Councilman Jerry Davis’ plan to set aside $212,850 within an existing contract to help nonprofits mow over grown lots.