The City’s massive water and sewer fund now rakes in almost $700 million in annual revenues, only slightly less than the City takes in each year from property tax revenues. Water and sewer charges are nothing but a hidden tax.

The combined impact of soaring property taxes and the highest water and sewer rates of any of the 10 largest US cities is savaging Houstonians’ finances, particularly in middle and lower income areas of the City, such as in Acres Homes.

(The water and sewer rate comparison for the 10 largest cities was done using 20,000 average gallons of water per month and for San Diego its winter monthly average rate. Keep in mind that several of these large cities do not have the easy access to a water supply that Houston has, thus making Houston’s extreme rates even less justifiable.)

The long-term debt of the water and sewer fund has more than doubled in the last 10 years and servicing that debt takes an outrageous approximately half of every water and sewer revenue dollar collected.

The Prop 2 Houston Taxpayer Bill Of Rights (TABOR), approved by over 242,000 Houstonians in 2004, offered hope for the voters to gain control over the monstrous water and sewer rates and out-of-control water and sewer long-term debt.

But this prospect was abhorrent to the politicians, along with those who do business with the City and line the politicians’ campaign fund pockets---attorneys, contractors and those in the bond business.

So the mayor now has placed on the November 7 ballot his Prop G City charter amendment to take away Houstonians’ just won right to vote on the total revenues of the City, by proposing to exclude from the Prop 2 TABOR the revenues of the enterprise funds, principally the massive water and sewer fund.

If the voters succumb to voting for Prop G, Houstonians could be subject to a return to the 1980s when water rates were increased 119% and sewer rates by 161%. It would be disastrous to the Houston economy to begin adding such outrageous increases again to the already monstrous Houston water and sewer rates.

The mayor has dragged the red herring of the airport fund across the Prop G trail, when the real prize in Prop G is the water and sewer fund, no two ways about it. The sad thing is that the mayor has duped the airlines into thinking that the Prop 2 TABOR is bad for the airlines when in reality it is good for the airlines, its employees and the Houston economy. Please read the piece under the main page button “Airport Fund-Actual Facts”.

The mayor throws up many smoke screens as to why the Prop 2 TABOR is supposedly bad for the water and sewer fund. One is that if water usage drops then the new “floor” for computing the following year’s cap will be unduly restrictive. Fact is, over the last 20 years total water and sewer revenues have dropped few times and then by no more than 3%. But this is just one example of the mayor’s many disingenuous representations about the water and sewer fund and many other facets of the Prop 2 TABOR.

In summary, DON”T BE FOOLED, vote AGAINST Prop G!

VOTE NO TO ALL 8 CITY PROPOSITIONS A THROUGH H!