Turner Adviser Says Next Houston Mayor Will Have About 18 Months to Tackle Budget Shortfall
As federal pandemic relief that has helped balance Houston's books nears its end, a top aide to Mayor Sylvester Turner says a roughly $450 million reserve gives the next mayor time to address a structural revenue problem.
By Kendra Konchanuk ·
Houston has leaned on federal COVID relief money to balance its budgets for several years, and that support is due to expire next year. Closing the resulting gap without the aid is expected to be one of the biggest challenges awaiting the city's next mayor.
The city received $607 million through two separate payments under the American Rescue Plan Act, known as ARPA. A report released earlier this month indicates that a large share of the money went toward what the city labels "budget stabilizing revenue replacement."
In an interview with Houston Public Media in July, City Controller Chris Brown described the city's dependence on ARPA dollars to cover structural budget deficits in recent years as an addiction. Bill Kelly, director of government relations for Mayor Sylvester Turner, rejects that framing.
"'Addicted to federal money' makes it sound like we have anticipated using this going forward," Kelly said. "We are not."
The ARPA funds are expected to run out around the end of 2024, which falls midway through the next fiscal year. Kelly pointed out, however, that the money has allowed the city to build an operating reserve of roughly $450 million. Brown acknowledged that reserve in his earlier interview. According to Kelly, the cushion buys the city additional time to confront the looming budget problem, with the real deadline arriving in mid-2025, when the next mayor must pass a budget for fiscal year 2026.
"The next mayor will have an 18-month runway to be able to...prioritize what they want to be able to fund and look for how to be able to address the structural revenue problem that we do have with the City of Houston," Kelly said.
He contrasted that position with the one Turner faced after taking office in 2016. "That first six months that Mayor Turner came into office, we were facing a $163 million deficit," Kelly said. The administration was able to handle it, he said, without layoffs and without raising the tax rate.
Even so, Kelly conceded that the next mayor will have to move quickly on the city's structural budget concerns. He said he hopes the mayoral campaign will center on solutions to what he considers fairly described as a revenue problem, given what the city's spending goes toward.
Source: Houston Public Media
