HOUSTON — A new bill in the Texas Senate aims to redistribute surplus revenue from the Harris County Toll Road Authority, potentially providing additional funding for essential city services in Houston.
Senate Bill 2722, filed by Houston Senator Paul Bettencourt, would allocate 30% of excess toll road revenue to the City of Houston to support police, fire, and emergency medical services. The remaining 70% would stay with Harris County, with the stipulation that these funds be used exclusively for county-owned road projects.
Below is what one council member had to say:
“When emergencies occur on the toll road, especially in the city of Houston, our emergency personnel go out, Houston Fire Department and so forth. So it seems only fair that the city should share in the revenue that’s collected in the toll road system,” said Julian Ramirez, Houston City Council At-large Position 1.
I would expect a Republican Council Member (Julian Ramirez) to think like he does.
So responding to some accidents via police and fire now entitles the city to 30% of the revenue. Give me a break. So, when the county does projects such as water detention that cost millions of dollars and saves Houston homes, should the city be forced to send money to the county?
What that idiot Bettencourt is trying to do is outright steal money from the county to give to the Republican mayor who can’t figure out how to balance a budget other than to keep paying employees more.
I don’t think we get enough services from the county, but passing laws to steal their money is outrageous. If Ramirez believes we are entitled to money from the county, then we should also be getting it from the state because police and fire also respond to accidents on those roads.
