Houston residents will soon pay the city’s first-ever residential trash fee after City Council approved Mayor John Whitmire’s $7.5 billion budget Wednesday, closing a $174 million shortfall without raising property taxes but sparking fierce debate over how the gap was filled.
The budget passed 15-1, with Council Member Edward Pollard casting the lone dissenting vote. The spending plan remains largely unchanged from Whitmire’s original proposal, relying on a new monthly trash fee and the transfer of more than $100 million in solid waste costs from the city’s general fund to its water and sewer system.
“There is no perfect budget. The budget is a continuation of reviewing state, city, local government, and making adjustments. We can definitely make improvements. We’re going to do that,” said Whitmire ahead of the vote…