In some ways, John Whitmire reminds me of Donald Trump. I can fix it, and the other guy will be responsible.
If nothing else, view the video at the end of this article.
KHOU 11 is continuing to follow the short-term rental saga that many neighbors in Houston said has turned their lives into a “living hell.”
Houston Mayor John Whitmire spoke exclusively with KHOU 11 News Tuesday and said the city has already started working on it. He said short-term rentals are a priority.
“The previous administration would never declare that it is a hotel, which has regulations that can be enforced,” Mayor Whitmire said. “So, I’m really ready to get after it.”
The mayor said he’ll be working with the city attorney on this.
He said if short-term rentals are determined to be hotels, they would fall under an entirely different set of rules and tax code. Source
Mayor Whitmire likes to blame Mayor Turner for all the problems; maybe he should give him credit for having some money saved so that Whitmire can act like he is doing a good job.
Houston was able to build up its budget reserves during former Mayor Sylvester Turner’s tenure using federal COVID-19 relief money. Its fund balance currently stands at about $428 million, $241 million above the legally required minimum. Hollins cautioned Tuesday, however, that this buffer provides the city with only about a year to fix its finances. Source
As most of know there is no such thing is “free” debt. Compromises have to made and interest rates on the borrowed money will have to be paid.
The Whitmire administration is planning to issue a judgment bond to finance firefighters’ back pay over the next 25 to 30 years, which Hollins said will amount to between $1.1 billion and $1.3 billion when factoring in interest.
Combining debt repayments, interest and planned salary hikes, the city’s budget is bracing for an additional cost of $70 to $80 million in the next fiscal year that starts in July. This is on top of an already projected deficit of $160 to $200 million that does not account for the impact of the firefighters’ agreement, Hollins said. Source
Houston Chronicle is a Joke. Millionaire firemen.
Read the headline below and know that Whitmire may pay his personal share of whatever the city does, but the residents and mostly homeowners of Houston will be the ones to pay for Whitmire’s actions.
I want to know why the people of Houston have to pay to make firefighters millionaires. Many if not most of the firemen that retire from the city will retire with pensions that will make them millionaires.
Houston firefighters have a contract. Now Whitmire must pay for it. (Editorial)
I can’t get them to remove a vehicle parked on the street for months.
As the president of the civic association where I live, residents often email or call regarding nuisances. I get much better service when I report a light out to Center Point than I do from the city’s Department of Neighborhoods. Over a month ago I reported a vehicle that has been parked on the street for months. The inspection sticker is from 2022. I was informed that there was no violation, yet every day I look out my window and see that the vehicle remains in the same location day and night.
I live in a neighborhood with deed restrictions, but not the type that allows us the kind of help to maintain a good quality of life.
Loud music and parties; if one calls on a Friday, Saturday, or Sunday, it may take 30 minutes or longer to get someone on the police non-emergency to answer, and if lucky, a patrol car may show up hours later.
It is a city violation to use one’s driveway for storing junk vehicles. Good luck with that; the city won’t enforce it.
It is a city violation to put the heavy trash out weeks ahead of schedule; good luck getting the city to enforce that.
Those are just a few violations that the city won’t enforce because it lacks money. But it does want to make firemen millionaires.
We have had better service from the police, who have been patrolling our neighborhood recently after a rash of crime permeated it.
Don’t tell me what you will do, do it.
Biden wants to tax the billionaire, Whitmire wants to tax the average man and woman.
It is no secret that large companies and some rich people get lower tax rates in Houston. While there is supposed to be tax recapture, that very seldom, if ever, occurs if the business fails to live up to expectations.
Twenty years ago, the Sunday front page of the Houston Chronicle reported that in Harris County “a dozen posh country clubs are receiving a special tax break that allows the exclusive clubs to avoid paying almost $1.6 million in property taxes each year.”
Chief among them was the River Oaks Country Club, whose well-tended golf course is the playground of Houston’s elite. Nestled next to downtown, that property was taxed at a fraction of its market value.
Nothing has changed in the subsequent two decades, except the lost tax income – at a time when the Houston Independent School District is considering a tax hike – now exceeds $4.5 million annually. Source
