After eight years under Sylvester Turner, Houston will have a new mayor in January.
Seventeen candidates have filed to run in the Nov. 7 election, and whoever wins will have to balance the city’s budget. According to experts, the mayor of Houston is considered one of the most powerful in the United States, as he has the power to single-handedly set the agenda for the weekly Houston City Council meetings, as well as vote on every item.
However, the ballot proposal this year could also put some power back in the hands of council members.
Turner’s successor will have about six months after the election before he has to make major budget decisions, according to Houston Comptroller Chris Brown.
Turner faced a $160 million budget hole when he took office, and he will leave with a projected surplus at the end of the 2023-2024 fiscal year of about $420 million. In a presentation Brown gave to the Houston City Council on Oct. 4, he projected the city’s ending fund balance for fiscal year 2023-24 to be $420.4 million. At the same meeting, the city’s finance department gave its forecast for the balance: $466.2 million.
Brown said that under Turner, the city has balanced several budgets with the help of one-time funding sources, including federal funding from programs such as the American Rescue Plan Act.
“The problem with using one-time funding sources to cover budget deficits is that they are one-time,” Brown said. “So you find that you’ll have that money this year, but then you have to figure out what’s going to happen next year.”
In 2016, the estimated structural deficit was $150 million. Brown estimates the amount to be about $300 million as of 2023. In public statements, Turner said the city is in good economic shape, pointing to a projected $420 million in the general reserve fund. The city’s policy is that the reserve should never fall below 7.5% of the fund’s total expenses – minus debt service and Pay-As-You-Go, or PAYGO, funding. By the end of the 2023-24 fiscal year, Brown projects the city’s value will exceed that threshold by $237.3 million.
Addressing the deficit could lead to layoffs, Brown said, estimating that up to 3,000 employees could be needed by fiscal year 2025-26. The city of Houston did not respond to requests for comment.
However, Brown also applauded Turner’s work to reduce the city’s unfunded pension liability – the difference between the estimated value of future benefits and the assets set aside to pay for them – from about $8.2 billion to about $2 billion.
Following the November election and a likely runoff election in December, Houston’s next mayor will take office in January. What happens next will largely depend on which candidate wins, but past mayoral changes may provide some insight into the process, said Renee Cross, senior executive director at the University of Houston’s Hobby School of Public Affairs. The first two decisions will involve transition teams and the potential appointment of new department heads.
Transition Commands: The next mayor will assemble a team of advisers to provide advice on key issues. Those groups will likely be created immediately and will cover areas where voters have expressed concerns, Cross said. In July, Hobby School surveyed 800 likely voters about their top priorities for the next mayor, she said.
- Crime named top priority 83% respondents and will likely be an early focus for the next mayor, who can rely on the advice of Houston Police Department Chief Troy Finner, Cross said.
- Road conditions are a top priority for 65% respondents, but poor street conditions came out on top when asked about problems in their own communities.
- Economic development is a top priority for 65% respondents related to road conditions. Cross said the mayor has limited economic development.
department heads: Some mayoral changes will also result in replacement of department heads who can better reflect the goals and ideology of the next mayor, Cross said.
- 1992 mayoral change: When former Mayor Bob Lanier replaced Kathy Whitmire, many people were removed from top positions in the city, Cross said.
- Change of mayor 2004: Historically, changes in department heads have also depended on the new mayor’s level of experience, as well as the department heads themselves, Cross said. When Bill White became mayor in 2004, his only experience as an elected official was when he was chairman of the Texas Democratic Party. Someone in that situation might be more likely to rely on people who are already working, Cross said.
Several representatives of local community groups spoke with Community Impact about what they think are the top issues facing the city that they think the next mayor would like to address.
Noise Ordinance
Stacy Fairchild, who represents groups in the Washington Avenue and Rice military districts, said the city has made progress under Turner in strengthening its noise ordinances, a process that has taken several years.
The city has used its stricter rules to hold violators accountable in several high-profile cases, and Fairchild said she’s glad the issue has received attention, but she said she feels more can be done to hold repeat offenders accountable and bring them to responsibility.
“We continue to have a loud noise problem on Washington Avenue,” Fairchild said. “I would like to see the mayor work with other local law enforcement agencies and expand the (memorandum of understanding) with the constables in particular to allow them to enforce rules,” Fairchild said. reasonable decision.”
Crime
Fairchild was among community members who also raised the topic of crime. In a group statement submitted Community influence On behalf of several members of Meyerland’s Super District No. 31, officials listed crime as one of the issues residents are most concerned about ahead of the mayoral election, along with the condition of roads and streets, reliable city services including garbage collection, water supply and road repairs, and creating more parks with amenities.
“Particularly gang-related crime,” officials wrote in a statement. “This means addressing the root causes and requires a return to neighborhood policing and an openness to the idea of locating police substations near high-crime areas.”
Planning, communication
George Frey of Super District 14 is among a group of residents expressing concerns about the rapid development of the Lazybrook/Timbergrove area, one of the fastest growing in Houston. As more land is purchased and developed for townhomes and apartments, the community’s future will depend on the city properly assessing traffic, flood control and utility needs as part of ongoing development, he said.
Frey said it will be critical for the next mayor to appoint people to positions in the planning and public works departments who prioritize transparency and communication with residents.
“We are experiencing significant difficulties with external communications to talk to any city employees, as well as inconsistency between departments,” he said. “We want to have a mayor who actively encourages collaboration between communities and the city, department by department.”
Flood control planning
Charles Goforth, president of the Brays Bayou Association, said completion of the Brays project in Harris County will greatly benefit the community. However, he said he is looking for the next mayor to continue reducing flood risks in the Bryce Bayou area, including through more underground strategies.
“I would like to see the next mayor put more emphasis on underground (flood control) infrastructure,” Goforth said. “On-ground infrastructure is extremely limited, particularly in the Brays Bayou watershed, which is 99 percent developed.”
The new mayor will occupy what is considered one of the most powerful mayoral positions in the United States, Cross said. However, Houston voters will have the opportunity to approve or reject Proposition A on the ballot this November, she said. Proposition A, if passed, would allow any council member to place an item on the weekly agenda if it receives the support of at least two other members.
“In terms of the weekly work of the council and being able to focus on some of the issues that maybe the mayor doesn’t want to necessarily address at this time, that’s pretty important,” Cross said.