Tax, or not to tax?

HOUSTON — Word of a possible property tax hike to pay for police services motivated about 45 Houston residents to pack the cramped chambers of Houston City Hall during a city council work session Thursday.

Many residents wanted to know why there’s even talk of raising the tax rate by at least 1.5 mills if the city’s budget is balanced and the police department appears to be supporting itself OK — or at least it is according to Police Capt. Charley McAnally.

“What are we even doing here?” some residents wondered.

But Mayor Virgie Thompson, Dep. Mayor Jim Johansen and city Treasurer Carolyn Grabowski argued that the city’s finances are not as solid as they appear and they don’t see any other way to bring in a steady source of income other than through more property taxes if residents want to continue to have police protection.

“This is not about creating any ill will against the police department or Capt. McAnally,” Grabowski said. “We’re just desperate for a constant stream of revenue. It’s not Capt. McAnally’s fault. The blame for this started in 2004 when the police department was created by the previous mayor and council. The city had no new businesses and zero capital and no plan, but they started a police department anyway.”

Grabowski said that although the council recently managed to balance the city’s $1.1 million budget for fiscal year 2011 by cutting the building and maintenance budget by about $20,000 and trimming another $13,000 from other areas, the city wouldn’t have been able to make its last payroll if Gorilla Fireworks owner Robert Hall hadn’t paid some of his 2010 sales taxes early.

With city salaries totaling more than $375,700 and health insurance premiums alone eating up more than $57,000 (at no cost to employees), personnel expenses have become a huge drain on city coffers, according to Grabowski.

Ultimately, however, it would be the residents’ decision whether to approve a mill rate increase either through a special referendum or during October’s general election, Thompson said.

“It’s not our decision,” she said.

Council member Lance Wilson, however, suspects the mayor and others who had opposed former Mayor Roger Purcell are simply trying to get rid of McAnally for his handling of former police Sgt. Charlie Seidl’s job evaluation and subsequent termination.

“We’re asked to find a solution for a non-existent problem,” Wilson told those gathered Thursday.

According to Wilson’s budget analysis, the police department is holding its own by covering 99.7 percent of its expenses through fines, impounds and other means. And with $43,000 in sales taxes coming in from December sales of local fireworks, the city should be doing fine with its revenue soon.

“The police department is being picked on for some reason,” Wilson said. “I think we can prove, given the current performance of the police department and our current budget, the police is not the drag on city finances it’s being made out to be.”

Wilson suggested that perhaps there’s too much waste in the fire department, especially considering expensive equipment that was purchased in the last few years that is rarely used, such as the $8,000 used Oshkosh fire suppression truck meant for airports that is now broken down and the $47,000 rescue truck the city still owes $42,000 on.

Johansen agreed with Wilson about the fire equipment, calling those two pieces “oversized paperweights.”

Some residents at the meeting urged council to come up with a plan to attract more businesses to Houston to bring in more sales tax revenue. One man, Joe Stanistreet, said the city needs its own gas station and a way to attract more tourists by using recreational outlets and possibly even creating a historical park with residents dressed in period costumes.

Houston resident Patricia Faye-Brazel told the council that it just needs to continue to get community input on solutions and to come up with a long-range planning document.

“If you could create a community planning model and get everyone on the same page, you could move mountains,” Faye-Brazel said.

Thompson and Grabowski said Friday that although they loved the fact that so many people attended the work session and offered a lot of good ideas, most of the ideas were more long-term and some a little too pie-in-the-sky.

But they hope the community will continue to attend meetings and be willing to step up to the plate when volunteers are needed down the road.

“Some people think of the city as being a big spender, but it they came in here and really looked at the figures, they could see where all the money goes and appreciate how difficult it is for us to meet residents’ needs,” Thompson said. “It takes a lot of work and dedication and sometimes painful cutbacks and tax hikes to make it all come together.”

Contact K.T. McKee at kate.McKee@frontiersman.com or 352-2252.