“Power tends to corrupt. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
Lord Acton, British historian.

Charter Amendment Language Specified By The Ordinance:

CHARTER AMENDMENT –PROPOSITION G

[Relating To Retaining Certain Limitations on Property Taxes and Water and Sewer Rates and Making Certain Changes Applicable to City Revenues]

The City Charter of the City of Houston shall be amended by adding a new Section 21 to Article IX to read as follows:

Section 21. Exclusions from limits on City revenues.

  1. Revenues of enterprise funds are not included in revenues limited by this Charter. The preceding provisions do not affect Charter limitations on the growth of property taxes or water and sewer rates contained in Article III, Section 1, and Article IX, Section 20, of this Charter.

    Enterprise funds (e.g., the Airport System) are all those largely self-sufficient activities not funded with property tax revenues. To maintain the self-sufficiency of the Water and Sewer System, the revenues of that System can only be used for the purposes of that System, and limited drainage purposes, as set forth in the existing debt covenants of that System. Those revenues cannot be used for any other purpose.

  2. For the purposes of calculating any revenue limitation in this Charter, amounts relating to termination of or reduced participation in a tax increment reinvestment zone shall be treated in the same manner as revenues from annexed areas in Article III, Section 1.
  3. City Council may prescribe methods for complying with limits on revenues in this Charter to account for changes in accounting standards or practices.

Ballot Language Specified By The Ordinance:

PROPOSITION G

CHARTER AMENDMENT PROPOSITION

[Related to Retaining Certain Limitations on Property Taxes and Water and Sewer Rates and Making Certain Changes Applicable to City Revenues]

Shall the City Charter of the City of Houston be amended, while preserving limitations on the growth of property tax revenues and water and sewer rates, to exclude from Charter limitations revenues of enterprise funds not funded with property taxes (e.g., the Airport System), and to make other adjustments allowing revenues to be treated consistently from one year to the next? Note: Please see commentary under main page buttons titled: (a) “Water & Sewer-Sky’s The Limit”; (b) “Props G & H-Illegal?”; and (c) “City’s Enron - Type Environment”.


VOTE NO TO ALL 8 CITY PROPOSITIONS A THROUGH H!
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