HOUSTON—METRO officials are working to persuade the next mayor of Houston that funding light rail and transit projects is more important than a road repair fund that city officials have come to count on.
The general mobility fund was something that former Houston mayor Bob Lanier persuaded METRO to create even before he first ran for office. Under the deal, METRO diverts 25 percent of its sales tax revenue to city governments within METRO’s service area, as well as to Harris County. This year, the fund is expected to send approximately $120 million to local municipalities. Houston’s share was $68 million last year, and is projected to be $58 million this year, because of declining sales tax revenue overall. The money makes up more than half of the city’s budget for road work.
This fall, METRO chairman David Wolff has floated the idea of letting the financial agreement expire when it is up for renewal in 2014.
“We could expand light rail, go into commuter rail, build more park and rides, build further improvements to the high occupancy lanes,” Wolff said. “If we’re going to have a first-class transit system, we’re going to need all the money we can get.”
Wolff said if METRO had access to the full one cent sales tax that voters approved in 1978, the agency could use the extra cash to sell bonds worth more than a billion dollars. Federal matching dollars would help the money available to build new rail lines swell to more than $2 billion, he said.
“Originally, people didn’t vote for three quarters for transit and one quarter for roads and streets,” Wolff said. “They voted 100 percent of that one cent sales tax for transit. So, it’s the right thing.”
If Wolff is to succeed, he will have to convince either Gene Locke or Annise Parker to back his plan.
City Council member Sue Lovell, who chairs the city’s transportation committee, said giving up hundreds of millions in road repair money would be a tough sell.
“I think it’s worth a discussion,” she said. “But METRO buses drive on the city streets, and that causes wear and tear. And this is the difficult part for the city – we would need to find out where that road repair money would come from. We don’t want to hurt one thing to advance another.”
Both Locke and Parker tell 11 News that they would oppose any move to divert road repair money to METRO.
“The City of Houston must get its full share of the METRO road money without any reduction, delay or impairment,” Locke said. “To divert money away from roads would imperil the resurfacing of streets, filling potholes and other vital road work.”
Parker said she would not consider changing the terms of the mobility fund agreement unless other cities that receive the funds also agreed to a change.
“I do not believe in unilateral disarmament,” she said. “If METRO wants the City of Houston to return general mobility dollars, in fairness, all cities must agree to return the dollars. However, I suspect that no one city is willing to release their funds until we are confident and have a true understanding of the financial situation at METRO. Returning the general mobility dollars would place a burden on the city.”
