[Homeowner Dan] Harris said that when the Rebuild Houston program was first being discussed last year, he was an early supporter. But when he did the math based on the $5 figure, he said he “couldn’t square” how the city planned to raise the money it said it needed.
Harris said he believes the Parker administration and Costello knew well before the election the figure was too low, and that’s why the “impervious area” was never clearly defined leading up to the vote.
[snip]
District C Councilwoman Anne Clutterbuck, who voted for the ordinance implementing Rebuild Houston, told The Examiner she doesn’t believe anything nefarious happened in the election.
Pols purposely keeping details vague before a referendum and promoting to voters numbers that have turned out to be wildly inaccurate qualifies as nefarious enough for us. Your mileage may vary.
Mayor Annise Parker has called a press conference tomorrow to announce her “improved and fair drainage fee plan.”
UPDATE (06/16/2011): KPRC-2 reporter Mary Benton tweets that Mayor Parker will announce a 1,000 square ft. exemption for all properties.
UPDATE 2 (06/16/2011): Mayor Parker’s latest and greatest revisions to the rain tax have been announced here.
So, did anybody who voted for the Parker/Costello rain tax think this is what they were getting?
