Remember "ReBuild Houston"? It's a tax payer funded program designed to fix up the city that first launched about 8 years ago. So far the costs are well over $775 million. Yowsers! That's a lotta cheddar.
The city of Houston describes the program as an, "initiative to improve the quality of life and mobility for residents of the city by rebuilding our drainage and street infrastructure. To support the initiative, the city has established a dedicated, pay-as-you-go fund to maintain the infrastructure, and to plan upgrades to meet future needs as the city grows."
However, a recent report by KTRK reveals that's not exactly what's taking place.
The city's goal for the $41 million drainage project was supposed to be finished in 2017. Spoiler alert: not only is it not completed, it's been delayed. They claim they won't finish until sometime next year, which is two years later than what they promised.
Meanwhile a similar $23 million drainage project in the Magnolia Park neighborhood hasn't even started construction yet. City documents show that project has been delayed.
All over these examples of reckless and incompetent government spending are part of projects supposedly funded, at least in part, by the City of Houston's drainage fee. You've been paying for this Titanic sized crony operation via your water bills since 2010.
The project is up for re-approval on this year's ballot. Despite the millions of dollars being collected, improvements just aren't happening.
So who do we blame? So far former Mayors Bill White and Annise Parker, along with current Mayor Sylvester "Boat Insurance" Turner, have all promised to fix the system. But none of them have (or did).
This will be part of "Prop One" on your ballot this November. Watch out for it - it's a doozy!
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