Water Bills
Donald Trump started his war with Iran 6 months ago today. There appears to be no end in sight.
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There are 15,000 City of H-Town drinking water customers that are delinquent in paying their water bills. They are fixing to get their water shut off. See this from KPRC Channel 2 News:
Houston – Beginning September 8, the City of Houston says it will begin disconnecting water service for customers who are 90 days or more behind on their bills and owe more than $500.
Houston Public Works Director Randy Macchi says notices are already going out to customers who could be at risk of having their water shut off.
“Right now, what’s happening is notices are going out to customers, just warning them that there is a balance due and that they’re at risk of having an interruption to their water service.”
According to the city, approximately 15,000 customers fall into that category. Collectively, they owe Houston about $30 million.
In one case, one Houston business hasn’t paid its water bill since 1997. Nearly three decades later, the balance on that single account has grown to about $3.5 million.
The City of Houston is still investigating exactly how that happened. Officials say they are looking into whether ownership changed, records were lost or whether there were other issues with the account. The city has not identified the business.
But that account is part of a much bigger problem.
Macchi says the city has reached a point where it can no longer allow customers to continue receiving water indefinitely without paying.
“I don’t think any reasonable person in the city would say that we should be giving away water for free. And if someone who pays their bill finds out that someone is not paying their bill and is receiving that water, there’s certainly issues of fairness and equity.”
The city stopped disconnecting delinquent water customers in 2024 as Mayor John Whitmire’s administration began working to overhaul Houston’s troubled water billing system.
City of H-Town water isn’t free folks. I hate to see folks get their water shut off, but still, you must pay your water bill. That is the deal. The featured photo is the city’s Water Department.
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I am all for this. See this from the Chron:
Political candidates seeking office at Houston City Hall could soon face stiffer penalties for some campaign finance violations under a new proposal being considered by city officials.
Filing campaign fundraising reports late — or failing to file them at all — is a criminal offense under state and city laws and can be subject to hefty fines. But in practice, the city doesn’t enforce those rules, leading to routine violations from officeholders and their challengers alike.
A new proposal filed by Council Member Julian Ramirez seeks to encourage more timely reports by requiring the city secretary to file a sworn complaint with the Texas Ethics Commission anytime a candidate misses a deadline.
“With no penalty assessed for not meeting the deadline, filers can ignore the requirement with impunity,” the proposal reads. “Because violators are not held accountable, the public’s confidence and trust in its government is undermined.”
Ramirez and other council members have engaged in more than a year of talks at City Hall over ethics reforms. Mayor John Whitmire campaigned on rooting out waste, corruption and conflicts of interest in city government, but various proposals, from reviving the city ethics commission to reforming the Office of the Inspector General, have not advanced.
Ramirez’s proposal also would require City Secretary Troy Lemon to post the names of delinquent filers on a city website within 24 hours after each filing deadline.
Under state law, contenders for Houston mayor, controller, and city council seats are required to post reports with donations and spending twice a year, with extra reports due before each election day.
In theory, violations of those rules could be addressed in two ways, Ramirez said. Complaints could be routed to the Office of the Inspector General or to the city ethics commission, but in practice, Houston has not used either mechanism to enforce its laws.
The ethics commission, in particular, does not appear to have met for at least a decade.
The result is that, in recent election cycles, up to 25% of all candidates failed to file reports of contributions and expenditures on time, or at all. In some cases, candidates only filed after being contacted for comment by the news media.
Ramirez’ proposal takes a third route, explicitly asking the state to step in.
“It shouldn’t solely be on the Chronicle to hold people accountable for not filing or for late filing,” Ramirez said.
The eight-member Texas Ethics Commission, appointed by state leaders, is generally tasked with regulating state lawmakers and candidates but does take up local matters when a Texas resident files a sworn complaint.
Here is the entire Chron read: Houston ethics proposal targets late, missing campaign finance reports.
I have said before that enforcing campaign contributions and expenditures reporting violations is lax in Texas. Bad actors get away with a lot of crap. I am all for getting the City Secretary to file complaints with the Ethics Commission. This is long overdue. Nice work by Council Member Ramirez.
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After our rocky homie, we took 2 out of 3 at Yankee Stadium. We have a 1-game lead in the AL West with 28 games left to play. We play this weekend at Citi Field against the Mets.