The Chronicle‘s Matt Stiles reports that Mayor White, who has suffered legal defeats in his efforts to squash the Proposition Two revenue limitation measure approved by voters, will now focus on trying to neutralize it at the ballot box this fall:
Mayor Bill White said Wednesday that he plans to ask voters to alter the charter again this fall.
White’s proposed changes, which City Council must approve before they could go on the ballot, would limit the cap known as Proposition 2 only to revenue in the general fund.
That part of the budget, supported by taxes and other fees, funds public safety, libraries, parks and other core city services.
Proposition 2 mandates that all city revenue collections — including fee-supported “enterprise” funds that pay for airports, water service and convention facilities — cannot exceed the previous year’s total plus the rate of inflation and population growth. If they do, supporters argue, taxpayers are due a rebate.
[snip]
White has said Houstonians are worried about slowing the growth of property taxes, but Proposition 2 backers say they included all sources of revenue in their measure to prevent the city from stealthily raising fees instead of taxes.
The concerns of Prop 2 backers seem legitimate, as the White Administration has been creative in pursuing new revenue streams.
If he hopes to convince voters to remove the teeth from Proposition 2 this fall, Mayor White is going to have to make a stronger case than the one presented in this story.
UPDATE (08-04-2006): Right on cue, the Chronicle editorial board comes out in support of the Mayor’s proposal, reminding us once again of Sedosi Alhambra‘s name for the editorial board (Mrs. White).
