The mayor of Houston, a Democrat, acknowledged during a recent meeting that the city is facing financial challenges, with a deficit of $160 million. He is considering implementing spending reductions and potentially introducing new taxes to address the situation caused by previous Democratic administrations.
“I think we can all agree that we’re broke,” Whitmire said at the City Council meeting. “It was broken when I got here.”
Houston has only elected two Republican mayors in its history. The last Republican served in the position from 1978 to 1981.
Whitmire settled a labor dispute with city firefighters in which he agreed to give them “$650 million for seven years of back pay.”
The mayor is advocating for maintaining the current funding levels for the city’s police and fire departments while suggesting a 5 percent reduction in budgets across all other government sectors to stabilize the city’s finances.
“I’m not going to play games with people’s lives,” Whitmire said. “I’m not going to play politics with people’s lives. So we have a responsibility to settle with the firefighters and protect Houstonians.”
“I don’t like a 5 percent cut now, but you have to make tough decisions and the folks put me in this position to make tough decisions, and I’m going to do my job,” he said.
Councilwoman Tiffany Thomas demanded a clearer plan. “Are we going to fee Houstonians? Is it a trash fee? Are we paying for parking after 6? Are we going after Metro’s money? What are we doing?” Thomas asked.
The mayor hinted that restoring Houston’s financial stability may require seeking additional support from taxpayers, as reported by KRIV.
In contrast, Councilman Willie Davis provided a straightforward evaluation of the current situation. “This is going to come down to a financial sacrifice by the city. Now we can either be $1.2 billion broke, or we can be $650 million broke,” he said.
