Stimulus cash eyed to balance city budget
Turner’s $5.1B spending plan could cover firefighter pay
Mayor Sylvester Turner plans to use an influx of federal cash to give firefighters a “raise the city can afford,” expand the Houston Police Department and replace lost revenue from the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the mayor’s $5.1 billion annual spending plan.
Turner’s budget proposal relies on roughly $304 million in federal relief money that was set to be deposited into the city’s coffers this week. The administration would use $188 million of that money to close most of the city’s projected $201 million deficit for the upcoming fiscal year, while fully replenishing the $20 million rainy day fund ahead of hurricane season.
“Without this flexibility, the city would be facing catastrophic cuts across all services,” Turner said, a nod to the city’s estimated $178 million in lost revenue during the pandemic, mostly driven by sales tax.
The proposed spending plan largely would leave the city’s $214 million in reserves, which officials have relied on in recent years to help balance the annual budget, untouched. Turner also did not account for $112 million of the city’s stimulus funds in his initial spending plan, leaving the door open for other initiatives that he declined to detail Tuesday.
A portion of the extra federal aid likely will cover the firefighter raises, which Turner did not in
clude in the budget as proposed Tuesday. The mayor declined to reveal the size of the firefighter pay increase, saying only that he plans to implement raises over three years, starting July 1, when the 2022 fiscal year begins.
Questions over timing
Houston Professional Fire Fighters Association President Marty Lancton criticized Turner for granting the raises without involving the fire union. He also questioned the timing of the mayor’s announcement Tuesday, which came days after an appeals court ruling cleared the way for a trial court judge to set firefighters’ pay for up to a year and compensate them for “past losses.”
“We appreciate any money that is provided to firefighters,” Lancton said. “We certainly hope this means (the mayor) will not be appealing his attacks on collective bargaining and now recognizes that the law provides a procedure to bargain as determined by the court.”
Houston firefighters have been locked in a pay dispute with Turner for much of his time as mayor and have received raises of just 3 percent since 2011, after rejecting offers they say included too many concessions.
The recent court ruling came in a case that arose in June 2017, after Turner and the firefighters failed to agree on a new contract through collective bargaining. As part of that lawsuit, the firefighters invoked a provision of state law that allows a state district judge to set their pay after Turner declined to enter contract arbitration.
The city contended it was unconstitutional for judges to determine firefighter pay, an argument rejected down by the appellate court last week.
Without the firefighter raises, Turner’s spending plan represents a 4.7 percent increase from last year’s budget. The tax- and fee-supported general fund, which pays for core city services, would total $2.58 billion next year, up 3.9 percent.
The largest increase would come from the police department, which would see its budget rise to $984 million, about $33 million more than city officials expect to spend this year.
The additional police spending would fund six cadet classes instead of the usual five, and cover a 2 percent raise for officers. The city’s contract with police officers has expired and the two sides have not agreed on a new one, but an evergreen clause in that deal secured the raise.
The Houston Fire Department also would see a modest budget increase, with funding for four cadet classes. The initial $515 million HFD budget includes funding for 3,648 classified firefighters, according to city finance officials, about 76 fewer than the current budget.
For now, the two public safety departments account for roughly a quarter of the mayor’s proposed budget for the next fiscal year and half the general fund costs.
Controller Chris Brown said the federal stimulus money bailed the city out of a truly dire scenario — Houston’s worst-ever deficit, which could have resulted in as many as 2,500 layoffs.
“I’d breath a sigh of relief and look at the fact that the city really dodged a bullet this budget cycle,” Brown said, adding that his biggest concern is the city’s continuing structural imbalance. Its recurring expenditures outweigh revenues, meaning the city usually has to employ stopgap measures such as land sales and deferrals to balance its books. Council to consider
Turner said the city did not have to use those maneuvers this year. The budget proposal would use $7 million in cuts across city departments and $5 million from a Public Works debt payment to close the remainder of the deficit left uncovered by federal aid.
At-Large Councilmember Sallie Alcorn said the budget appeared pretty uneventful, reflecting modest year-over-year growth after the bailout closed the deficit.
“The real interest lies in where the remaining (federal) funds, $112 million this year, will be spent,” Alcorn said.
The mayor also indicated Tuesday that some of those funds would go toward helping Solid Waste catch up on heavy trash collection and other services amid the pandemic, though his administration still is crafting those details.
City Council will review the proposal over the next month and is scheduled to consider it June 2.