The politicians’ Props G and H are nothing more than a clever smoke screen designed to trick you into unwittingly giving up your 2004 just won Prop 2 (Houston TABOR) right for the voters, rather than the politicians, to control the overall rate of growth in City spending! Props G and H will destroy your right to say how much of your money the politicians can take from you in taxes, water and sewer charges, fees, etc.

Please remember, the Prop 2 TABOR prevents nothing. It merely requires that the City obtain voter approval before the City can increase its total revenues, and thereby total spending, in any given year by more than the combined rate of increase in population and inflation. It is that simple.

Mayor Bill White is not being truthful when he says on his web site (paid for by the airline industry) that the City Props do not repeal the Prop 2 TABOR. Props G and H do not directly repeal the Prop 2 TABOR because, following the mayor’s ongoing practice, Props G and H don’t even acknowledge that the Prop 2 TABOR exists. But, through very clever wording, Props G and H, in fact, totally gut and neuter the Prop 2 Taxpayer Bill of Rights.

Prop G would remove the City’s enterprise funds from the Prop 2 TABOR controls. The enterprise funds comprise almost 50% of the City’s revenues and about 80% of the City’s long-term debt. As “business-type activities”, not within the City’s stated core mission, the enterprise funds are due more voter oversight, not less. Voter oversight is needed even more because city council is essentially clueless as to what goes on in the enterprise funds, particularly in the airport fund.

If Prop G were allowed to remove the enterprise funds from Prop 2 TABOR controls, that would leave only the general fund under the Prop 2 TABOR. And Prop H proposes to remove public safety expenditures, over 60% of the general fund’s operating expenditures, from Prop 2 TABOR controls.

Thus if Props G and H are both approved by the voters, that will leave less than 20% of the City’s operations and less than 20% of City long-term debt under the voter controls provided by the Prop 2 TABOR. Is that what you want? Do you actually want more property taxes, more water and sewer charges, other fees, etc.? Because that is exactly what you will get if you vote for Props G and H.

The mayor is using very deceptive messages about the airport fund and the crime and cops issues to lead his Props G and H campaigns. Please click on the applicable buttons on the main page to see the shell games he has resorted to on these two issues.

The City of Houston, on a per inhabitant basis, already owes over 2.5 times more in long-term debt than the financially floundering State of California. Do you really want to add to Houstonians’ debt by voting for the $625 million of new debt proposed by Props A through F?

Finally, bear in mind that all 8 propositions are being offered by a mayor who: (a) is paying property taxes on only 56% of the $2.9 million fair market value of his home (per appraisal district web site); (b) spent a minimum of $100,000 of taxpayers’ money trying to prevent implementation of the Prop 2 TABOR; and (c) refuses to give back to Houstonians the $8 million by which the City’s total property tax revenues in fiscal 2006 exceeded his own hoax Prop 1. Do you actually trust ANY ballot proposal offered by this kind of mayor?

Don’t Be Fooled!

VOTE NO TO ALL 8 CITY PROPOSITIONS A THROUGH H!