Message from Mayor
Annise Parker
Proposed 2014 City of Houston Budget
Focuses on the Future
(scroll down for Fourth
Annual Demolition Day information)
Houstonians,
On
May 14, 2013, I forwarded to Houston City Council a $4.9 billion proposed total
city budget for the fiscal year (FY) that begins July 1, 2013. The General Fund, or tax supported portion of
the budget, is $2.2 billion. This budget blueprint does not require a tax
increase and maintains focus on my five main priorities: jobs and
sustainable development, public safety, infrastructure, quality of life and
fiscal responsibility.
I believe this
budget proposal builds upon the progress of the last 3.5 years. We've cut waste, made city departments more
efficient and balanced every budget without raising taxes. We have gone from necessary budget cutbacks
and staff layoffs to sustainable economic growth. This budget reflects sound and realistic
fiscal policies necessary to fund the city services required for supporting
that growth, while also allowing for investment in the future of our city. In making those decisions about the city's
future, we will utilize the same strong fiscal management that safely guided us
through the economic downturn.
The
budget will complete the restoration of services cut two years ago during the
economic downturn. It maintains full
funding of the Rainy Day Fund, which was achieved in FY13, and includes funding
for increased costs associated with employee pension and health benefits, as
well as the pay increases mandated by the contracts with the city's three
employee unions.
Respectfully,
Annise
Parker
Mayor
Highlights of FY14
Proposed Budget
Jobs and Sustainable Development
.
Hire
Houston First will continue to play a role as the city strives to keep our tax
dollars in Houston and build the local economy.
In the program's first year of existence, more than $139 million of city
business was awarded to certified firms, sustaining more than 6,000 jobs
.
With
aggressive pro-growth policies, city government has helped attract more than
$2.2 billion of economic development since Mayor Parker took office in
2010. Overall, the Houston region has
generated 250,000 jobs, exported approximately $300 billion in locally-produced
goods and services and issued permits for the construction of nearly 74,000
single-family homes in the last three years.
Every economic indicator points to more of the same moving forward
Public Safety
.
Over
two-thirds of the General Fund budget is devoted to public safety
.
More
than $2.2 million is included in this budget proposal to fund operations of the
city's new public safety radio project, which is improving the city's
capability to communicate with Harris County and surrounding jurisdictions when
fighting crime or responding to natural disaster
.
The
budget also includes the creation of the Forensic Transition Special Fund to
keep separate and account for costs related to the Houston Forensic Science LGC
and its ongoing effort to establish an independent crime lab
.
Thanks
to voter approval of last fall's bond referendum, we will continue to make
progress on the removal of dangerous buildings from our neighborhoods
.
The
elimination of the DNA backlog, an FY13 priority, will be completed this fiscal
year
Infrastructure
.
For
the first time ever, there is a General Fund line item of $2.5 million,
representing approximately 2% of the average annual Capital Improvement Plan
for Public Improvement Programs for infrastructure maintenance, renewal and
replacement. These dollars will be used
for upkeep to existing city facilities, such as libraries, community centers,
and neighborhood fire stations, to help avoid the deferred maintenance issues
identified in the recent facilities assessment
.
Through
Rebuild Houston more than $180 million has already been invested in drainage
and street improvements. This is just
the beginning of this pay-as-you-go comprehensive infrastructure modernization
program that will transform our city over time
.
FY2014
will also include additional progress on replacement of city information
technology and fleet infrastructure, which has been underfunded for years
Quality of Life
.
The
number of Houston households with single-stream recycling will double in FY14
from about 100,000 to more than 200,000.
The first phase of the expansion will occur in July when approximately
35,000 households are added to the program.
About another 70,000 homes will be added during phase two later in the
year. The expansion will impact
neighborhoods citywide rather than be limited to one specific area of town
.
To ensure
continued progress on improvements made in recent years and to prepare for
completion of the new adoption center, the Bureau of Animal Regulation and
Control (BARC) will see an increase in funding by approximately $693,683
.
Major
progress will be made on the Bayou Greenways initiative that will link parks
and trails citywide
.
The
budget also includes funding to continue the Mayor's initiative to solve
chronic homelessness
Fiscal
Responsibility
.
As
part of an ongoing commitment to financial transparency, work continues to
improve management and oversight of taxpayer funds. To this end, $676,000 has been included in
the budget for enhanced financial controls and audit capabilities. Most of this funding will go to the city's
finance department, but some is also allocated to the Office of the City
Controller
.
The
budget also reports several funds that were previously categorized as
non-budgeted funds
The FY2014 - 2018
Capital Improvement Plan (CIP), which will be proposed shortly, complements the
mayor's proposed budget in its support of growth and investment in the city's
future by focusing on infrastructure and public safety. In FY2012 the city conducted a facilities
conditions assessment. This assessment
is driving many projects throughout the CIP that address poor facility
conditions faced by both citizens and employees, including renovations of
Sunnyside Multi-Service Center, fire stations and many neighborhood libraries.
City of Houston Fourth
Annual Demo Day
Blighted and Hazardous Buildings to be
Bulldozed Saturday, May 18
Ensuring public safety and enhancing the quality of life for
residents are top priorities for the City of Houston. One way to accomplish these goals is by
eliminating blighted, dangerous buildings in our neighborhoods. The
Fourth Annual Demo Day, Saturday,
May 18, 2013, launches Mayor Annise Parker's 2013 Demolition Initiative to
demolish 136 hazardous structures at locations across the city during May and
June.
On Demo Day, Houston
Contractors Association volunteers will kick off the initiative by razing a
portion of these 136 buildings. The
debris will be cleared in the weeks that follow. The City's target date for the completion of
all projects is July 31, 2013.
The buildings approved for demolition consist of residential,
commercial and multi-family structures.
The buildings were selected from a list of properties for which the
hearing orders have expired and which the property owners have failed to bring
into compliance.
For a list of buildings approved for demolition, visit http://www.houstontx.gov/citizensnet/2013demolitionlist.pdf. The demolition list is subject
to change daily.
The Mayor's Demolition Initiative is administered by Inspections
& Public Service (IPS), a division of the Department of Neighborhoods
(DON). For questions, email contact.don@houstontx.gov or call
IPS at 832.394.0600. For more
information on IPS and DON, visit www.houstontx.gov/neighborhoods.
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