Last week, Houston Mayor John Whitmire unveiled what he referred to as a balanced budget with no tax increases. On Tuesday night, City Controller Chris Hollins launched a six-stop “reality check” tour to tell taxpayers why he thinks Whitmire is lying.
The mayor and the controller — both elected officials — have been at odds over Houston’s finances since they were sworn into their respective positions in January 2024. It’s likely that Hollins will challenge the mayor in Whitmire’s re-election bid next year, and some suspect that Hollins’ town hall meeting series could be a soft launch of his mayoral campaign.
When Hollins arrived at Houston City College’s North Forest campus on Tuesday, attendees flocked around him for a hug or a selfie. When he acknowledged that his criticism of Whitmire’s budget hadn’t made him popular at City Hall, someone shouted from the audience, “You’re popular with us!”
Whitmire released his proposed $7.5 billion budget on May 5, noting at the time that several public hearings and committee meetings would be held prior to final adoption next month.
Standing behind the mayor at last week’s press conference were more than a dozen department directors and council members. Notably absent were the three elected officials — Abbie Kamin, Edward Pollard and Tiffany Thomas — who voted against the mayor’s budget last year. Hollins was also not present, but he was definitely watching and preparing memes set to Notorious B.I.G.’s “Mo’ Money, Mo’ Problems” to drop on social media.
Some of the controller’s social media posts indicate a lighthearted effort to poke fun at the budget proposal. Some take a more serious tone. In a May 6 video, Hollins looked into the camera and said simply, “The mayor’s budget is bullshit.”
Whitmire’s budget focuses on two key changes designed to generate revenue and close a $174 million budget deficit. The first is a $5 monthly use-based administrative fee for solid waste. It’s not a tax or a “trash fee,” Whitmire claims, and will be implemented alongside service improvements, including new trucks and more reliable service. The fee is expected to generate $24 million in its first phase of operation.
He’s also proposing to move Solid Waste out of the general fund and into the utility system, which frees up $117 million in the general fund but creates its own set of problems, according to critics. Houston is the only major city in Texas that doesn’t have a garbage fee and it’s one of the few that doesn’t classify Solid Waste as a utility.
Whitmire’s second proposed major change is a 5 percent rental fee on utility gross revenues, which he says will generate an estimated $100 million per year. “This is a simple standard practice,” Whitmire said. “When a utility uses public streets to operate, it compensates the city, just as businesses already do when they use street space for things like valet lanes.”
“Houston is updating how it funds core services to create a more stable, sustainable financial foundation without raising property taxes,” Whitmire said. “These changes align Houston with national best practices, reflect the real cost of delivering services and help ensure long-term stability.”
But the numbers don’t balance, Hollins said. Whitmire’s proposal to move Solid Waste out of the general fund and into the utility system just moves millions from Solid Waste costs into another area, relabeling expenses rather than solving the budget deficit. The gap would be covered by water and sewer funds, which could mean higher water bills or less investment in infrastructure in the future, Hollins said.
“It’s my job to tell you the truth, even when that truth is uncomfortable,” he said. “I haven’t made any friends at City Hall with that approach. The good news is I don’t report to anyone at City Hall. I report to the 2.4 million people who make this city great. It’s my job to be their watchdog, and I take that job very seriously.”
Hollins further pointed out that the mayor claimed in his press conference that last year’s budget was balanced with efficiencies and that the new Fiscal Year 2027 budget proposal has no increase in fees.
“None of that is true,” Hollins said. “Here’s what’s real. This budget shifts costs onto working families. It hides the price tag of city services and it puts Houston on a dangerous financial path.”
Hollins added that the budget proposal also doesn’t outline how the trash fee would improve service or how future fee increases would work. Utility funds operate like a business, Hollins said, meaning that while the general fund is paid for with property and sales taxes, utilities are paid for by their own fees.
Northwood Manor Civic Club president Fred Woods, who introduced Hollins at Tuesday’s meeting, said he attended the gathering because “we want to know not only where our tax dollars are going but whether the government is delivering results.”
Kourtney Revels, a native Houstonian and member of the advocacy group Northeast Action Collective, said that although her organization primarily supports “flood justice,” she’s also concerned about the trash fee. It’s inequitable and lacks transparency, she said.
“This trash fee will disproportionately burden communities like ours,” she said, referencing the North Forest and Kashmere Gardens area in northeast Houston. “We’ll see it impact people on a fixed income. It will not increase the solid waste budget. Do I feel like this $5 fee will improve the service? No, because we can’t even guarantee that we’ll have the staff for this program.”
“We haven’t been able to depend on the mayor and city council to do what they say they’re going to do with the money, so we feel like it’s another sham fee,” she added.
The Northeast Action Collective is proposing budget amendments including a fully-funded $45 million ditch re-establishment program. The program already exists but is only in the northeast quadrant of the city. “We live in these open-ditch communities, so having a program that’s focused on making sure water flows in and out of our communities has been a huge win,” Revels said. “We want to make sure it stretches throughout the city to the south side and Sunnyside.”
More town hall-style gatherings are scheduled where the public can ask questions and get information on the budget from Hollins’ perspective. The following meetings are scheduled:
• May 14 at 6:30 p.m. at Acres Homes Multiservice Center, 6719 W. Montgomery Road, Houston
• May 17 at 1 p.m. at Axelrad, 1517 Alabama St., Houston
• May 18 at 6:30 p.m.at BakerRipley | Gulfton Sharpstown, 6500 Rookin St., Houston
• May 21 at 6:30 p.m. at Kirby Ice House: Memorial, 1015 Gessner Road, Houston
• May 23 at 1 p.m. at La Escondida (Spanish translation available), 1120 Hill Road, Houston
There was never any doubt that Whitmire’s budget would be criticized. Last year’s budget included an unprecedented five-year $832 million police contract that will cost the city about $122 million this year. Officials with the advocacy group West Street Recovery say the mayor has continually focused on “police overspending” while cutting city services like parks, libraries, flood mitigation and solid waste. Houston’s most frequent 311 complaint by far last year was about trash not getting picked up properly or on time.
Whitmire says that public safety remains a priority among Houstonians, and he’s right, according to recent survey results. However, some Houstonians define public safety as drainage projects so people aren’t trapped in their homes during heavy rains, says Alice Liu, co-chair of West Street Recovery, who is fond of the phrase, “You can’t shoot a flood.”
A recent Rice University Kinder Institute for Urban Research survey reports that the No. 1 concern among local residents is the economy. About 75 residents at Hollins’ meeting said their top priority was cost of living and affordability.
The most talked-about component of Whitmire’s proposed budget is the trash fee. Even Whitmire’s harshest critics say they can live with a $5 monthly fee as long as the service improves. Members of the Houston Progressive Caucus, however, pointed out that there’s no guarantee that service will get better and there are no exemptions for seniors or low-income residents.
Houston has been, for decades, subsidizing trash fees for HOAs in wealthy neighborhoods, covering the costs of private companies to remove garbage for 47,000 households. Whitmire has not addressed whether he’ll eliminate that program but has said that exemptions could be an option if the $5 monthly fees ever increase.
Council Member Alejandra Salinas, who was elected in December and wasn’t around to vote on Whitmire’s budget last year, penned a letter to the mayor last week calling for affordability protections and discounted rates for seniors, low-income residents and qualified disabled veterans in the proposed solid waste fee.
Although Whitmire has said it’s possible the fee will never go over $5 per month, Salinas said the proposal’s phased increases are scheduled to reach $25 per month or $300 annually per household by 2032. Twenty-one percent of Houstonians live below the poverty line and a commitment to affordability should be addressed before the budget is adopted, Salinas said.
At Hollins’ town hall meeting, the controller explained that his role is to prevent waste, fraud and abuse through financial transactions; improve operations; increase transparency; and create a path to fiscal sustainability. He doesn’t propose the budget, make amendments or get to vote on it. However, he said, it is his job to make sure the city doesn’t go broke, that Houstonians know how their money is being spent and to break it down into a format that is easy to understand. .
“This is reality,” he said. “We just got this budget seven days ago. It’s a 350-page document. There are still some things we’re working through and we’re going to be transparent about that. It’s not about slapping their hands and telling them they messed up. It’s about giving them new ideas and best practices they can put into place that save us money and ultimately provide better services for you.”
