Mayor seeks to trim council’s special fund
Budgets for special projects would be cut by three-fourths
Mayor Sylvester Turner’s refrain that the city will meet its financial challenges through “shared sacrifices” is affecting a potentially thorny bunch — City Council.
Mayor Sylvester Turner’s refrain that Houston will meet its financial challenges through “shared sacrifice” is beginning to trigger the showdowns those sacrifices entail, starting with a potentially thorny bunch — the City Council.
Turner’s target is a cherished program for the 11 district council members that, now in its second year, gives members $1 million to spend on projects in their districts.
In the budget now being compiled for the fiscal year that starts July 1, Turner proposes slashing the so-called Council District Service Funds by $8.25 million, leaving each district council member with $250,000, a quarter of the current allotment, to spend. The five at-large members do not receive these funds.
Though the vast majority of city department budgets are driven by personnel costs, Turner wrote in a Tuesday afternoon memo to council, nearly 60 percent of City Council spending now is driven by these service funds, which members have used to install speed humps, fix curbs, add after-school programs, buy playground equipment, and pay staff overtime to mow overgrown lots or to police officers for extra patrols.
“I am asking City Council to reduce its CDSF budget $8.25 million to help avoid an equivalent amount of personnel cuts elsewhere,” Turner wrote. “I know we can address our challenges, especially when we lead and work together to
address them.”
Turner, who said he has begun cost cutting in the mayor’s office, also said all 16 council members will be asked to join city departments in submitting plans showing how they would cut 5 to 7 percent of their budgets. Aside from the district service funds, council budgets are modest, providing enough to pay several staff members, buy office supplies and not much else.
‘We can do it’
Houston confronts a projected $126 million gap between revenues and expenses in its roughly $2.4 billion general fund budget that must be passed before July.
The city’s budget challenges are driven mainly by soaring pension and debt costs and the impact of a voter-imposed cap on how much the city can collect from property taxes, the main source of general fund revenue. The oil downturn and subsequent declines in sales tax revenue are not helping.
Councilman Jerry Davis, who represents north Houston’s District B, much of which is disadvantaged, said the mayor’s plan gives him pause. However, Davis said if city departments are willing to be more responsive to constituents’ requests, the same goals could be met with fewer dollars.
“Oftentimes, this is what drives our service budget: They tell me, ‘Jerry, we need a sidewalk from Point A to Point B,’ and we can do that,” he said. “But if the administration wants to work with us to get some of the projects that our constituents and we want to see done, then we may be able to reduce that service budget.”
Davis said he understands the need for austerity, adding his district is home to the most city employees of the 11 districts.
“The last thing I want to see is any of my constituents get laid off,” Davis said. “So, if I have to give up a program here or there to save a job for a family, we can do it. But everybody’s got to come together and have that flexibility.”
Previous cuts denied
Council members pushed for the funds two years ago due to what they saw as a lack of responsiveness from city departments or a lack of funding for key customer-service activities such as installing speed humps or park benches.
Council members’ spending requests, to be legal under Houston’s strong-mayor form of government, require mayoral approval. Spending beyond $50,000 needs council approval, as with all city spending.
Former mayor Annise Parker had tried to cut the program in half in the current budget but was overridden by council. Despite that, Councilwoman Ellen Cohen said she does not believe Turner is necessarily stepping into a minefield by proposing cuts.
“He‘s taking his time and trying to talk to each council member and asking people to mull it over, sleep on it overnight,” said Cohen, who represents District C. “I would go so far as to say that we have a very fiscally conservative City Council, and we are aware that we have a very big deficit facing us. There are a lot of steps we’re going to have to take, and I think everybody is going to give this serious consideration.”
‘ Taking the lead’
Councilman Jack Christie, an at-large member who was the only one to vote against the funds both times, praised Turner’s proposal, though he said he would rather see the program go away entirely.
“Over the past three budget cycles I’ve been warning about these deficits, and when the council service funds came up two budget cycles ago, we found $ 11 million,” said Christie, who chairs the council’s budget committee. “We should save it for the deficit today, and not spend it. I’m glad he’s taking the lead on it.”
Councilman Dave Martin said he typically has used his fund to supplement a lack of capital repair projects in his District E, which has comparatively newer infrastructure than other districts. Even for a fiscal conservative, Martin, said, $11 million is a blip in a $2.4 billion operating budget.
“He gave it to us to think about. Is there room for negotiation? We’ll see,” Martin said. “I’m OK with cutting a percentage of my council district service budget to match what other city departments are doing, but 75 percent seems a little on the heavy side at first glance.”