This Week: Glass is Back!; Mayor Offers 3 1/2 Year Phase-In for Prop B; State Legislature to Vote on Cable Franchise Fee Removal Bill
Glass is Back!
Mayor Turner announced that curbside glass recycling services have resumed and plastic bag recycling has been introduced throughout Houston with the opening of our new, state-of-the-art processing plant. Last year, Council authorized a 15-year, $38 million contract with Fomento de Construcciones Y Contratas Inc (FCC) for processing Houston’s recyclables. The company built the new facility in northeast Houston, bringing approximately 140 new jobs to the area. Under the new contract, the City’s costs per ton is capped at $19, down from $90 per ton under the previous contract. The agreement includes a provision that will lower costs further should the value of recyclables in the global marketplace increase dramatically.
Mayor Offers 3 1/2 Year Phase-In for Prop B
Council continues to discuss options to pay for Prop B, the controversial measure approved by the voters to mandate “pay parity” for Houston’s fire and police departments on the basis of job title/classification and seniority.
Per Controller Chris Brown, the measure is estimated to cost $100,000,000.00 annually, the equivalent of about a 29% raise across the board for firefighters. For context, this is more than the entire General Fund budgets for all of the following City departments, combined: Neighborhoods, Libraries, Housing, the Mayor’s Office, all Council offices, Finance, Business Opportunity, and Human Resources. The Prop B petition, written by the Houston Professional Fire Fighter’s Association union, did not include a funding source for the raises.
Fire Department Chief Pena has reported that, by implementing education parity requirements for those who would receive pay parity raises, the cost of Prop B is brought down to $80,000,000.00 annually.
To pay for these raises, Mayor Turner has sent the Houston Professional Fire Fighter’s Association a new proposal to implement the raises over a three and a half year period.
The HPFFA union president, Patrick “Marty” Lancton, has previously rejected a proposal to implement the raises over a five year period, which would eliminate the need for any layoffs or cuts to City services. Mr. Lancton did not share specific criticism of the five-year plan beyond questioning whether the plan included both base and incentive pay, which Mayor Turner has confirmed that it does. (Please see rows 3, 4, 7, and 8 in the above linked proposal, which show the incremental and cumulative annual costs for both base and incentive pay in the new proposal.)
While both Mayor Turner and Mayor Pro Tem Cohen favor a five-year implementation because there would be no layoffs, a three and a half year phase-in is being offered as a compromise solution, since it would lead to less layoffs than no phase-in at all.
If the raises are not phased in and must be implemented all at once, Prop B will necessitate laying off 378 firefighters and 100 municipal employees, with additional steep cuts to City services like parks and libraries.
Chief Pena has noted that he can achieve his department’s portion of the layoffs by laying off 67 cadets who have not been sworn in, eliminating 91 currently vacant positions, and laying off 220 firefighters. By restructuring his department from a four shift to a three shift model, he can maintain current public safety standards despite these layoffs.
If the Fire Fighter’s Association will approve Mayor Turner’s plan to phase in the raises over three and a half years, far fewer layoffs will be needed.
State Legislature to Vote on Cable Franchise Fee Removal Bill
Houstonian cable customers are urged to voice their opposition to bills in the Texas Legislature that would reduce the amount of money cable companies pay to use the city’s right of way to deliver their video, internet, telecommunications and other services.
If the bills pass and become law, they would take $17 million to $27 million away from the city every year with no guarantee the companies will share their savings with their customers.
Mayor Turner’s open letter to customers is available online.
Each Houston customer should contact his or her state senator and state representative and urge them to vote no on Senate Bill 1152 and House Bill 3535.
Please visit https://wrm.capitol.