If you need a good reason to vote for Proposition G, the Chron‘s editorial board would like you to know that throughout history, the world’s great cities have remained great when they remembered to keep taxes high enough to fund airport expansions and water service.
And Mayor White would like you to tell your friends via email to vote FOR all the city propositions, because the ballot is long and complicated, meaning Mayor White thinks your friends aren’t smart enough to figure out for themselves how they should vote.
Or something like that.
Here’s the Chronicle‘s pro-G editorial:
The history of the world’s great cities is replete with examples of communities that initially thrived on innovation and farsighted development of infrastructure, but then lost those priorities and went into precipitous decline. Often that occurred as individuals flush with success put their immediate financial interests above sustaining the economic viability of their city, only to forfeit both in the end.
In its second century of existence, Houston’s continued prosperity and high quality of life depends on voters’ remembering that lesson. On Tuesday’s ballot there are eight propositions that strengthen various aspects of city services for all of us, but none is more important that Proposition G. It would free the city from the ill-considered restrictions of the revenue cap passed two years ago. At the time, a competing city-sponsored proposition to limit tax increases received more votes, but a court challenge by a handful of antitax activists has maintained the revenue cap’s potentially damaging strictures on the city.
The revenue cap requires that income from dedicated, nontax-supported city enterprise funds such as aviation and water be counted along with sales and property tax receipts in a formula that could limit city spending for police, fire, libraries and garbage pickup. A fiscally irrational result of the revenue cap is that expansion of airport business or increased water usage in a dry year would bump up the revenue flowing into those enterprise funds and limit city expenditures for vital neighborhood services.
“Houston has optimism and can provide opportunity for all because we are growing,” Mayor Bill White said. Ample water supplies and one of the fastest expanding airport systems in the country are key elements in the city’s success. Should Houston turn its back on growth, White warned, the city would consequently lose its competitiveness and ability to maintain economic opportunity for our children and grandchildren.
At a pre-election reception for the Friends of the Airport, a pro-aviation booster group, White exhorted the crowd to network with friends via e-mail, explaining the necessity of passing all the city propositions, including Proposition G. He emphasized that the ballot is long and complicated.
“I wouldn’t have been able to read it without my reading glasses,” White said. “For most of us, having a good local economy, decent water service and more and more flights to places of our choice is critically important.”
In his two terms in office, White has proved to be a fiscally responsible executive who has presided over multiple property tax reductions. Five of the seven conservative members of City Council have joined seven Democratic colleagues in endorsing Proposition G. These officials realize that if Houston turns its back on growth, it will compromise the future of all, no matter what our ideology or ethnicity.
Citizens don’t need to contribute money to make a difference in this election. Contact family members, friends and neighbors. Tell them to look for the propositions at the bottom of Tuesday’s ballot and cast their votes for a vibrant, fiscally sound Houston.
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