Houston Mayor John Whitmire says city is ‘broke’ after decades of overspending that has stopped them from being able to pay firefighters

Houston’s mayor says the city is “broke” after decades of overspending.

Democrat John Whitmire, who was elected in December, issued the dire warning this week at a City Hill rally, where he proposed a five percent cut in all city spending to ease the cash flow problem.

“I think we can all agree that we’re broke,” Whitmire said before introducing the planned cuts.

‘This gives us the opportunity to discuss the financial picture of this city. It is broken! It was broken when I got here,” he said.

America’s fourth-largest city spends more money than it brings in, leaving a $160 million deficit. FOX 26 Houston.

Experts say the problem has existed for years, but the federal government’s coronavirus handouts have masked the problem.

“COVID really stopped the conversation because we got so much money from the federal government that we were able to make our budgets work, but in reality this problem started 20 years ago, almost a quarter century ago, with the pension funds,” John Diamond, director of Center for Public Finance at Rice University, told KTRK.

A tax increase via a bond is expected in November.

“That’s very likely what we’re looking at, when we go to voters in November and say, ‘Here’s the plan, here’s what it’s going to cost, and we’re asking you to contribute,’” said City Manager Chris Hollins.

The city has struggled to keep firefighters healthy, from meeting contractual obligations related to their pensions to paying back pay and raises promised years ago.

A 5% across-the-board cut to city services has been proposed, but this will not affect fire and police

Whitmire’s plan to settle with the first responders will cost taxpayers a lot of money $650 million over the next five years.

“I don’t like a five percent cut right now, but you have to make tough decisions, and people have put me in this position to make tough decisions, and I’m going to do my job,” Whitmire said.

The city also gave away some of its revenue to the public transit system, which used much of it to build a light rail system that doesn’t make any money.

Houston’s population is growing and is expected to rival that of Tokyo with 31 million residents by 2100, if current population trends hold

MoveBuddha predicted what the top ten cities in America will be in 2100 based on current migration patterns.

H-town’s money problems come at a time when the rest of the Lone Star State is swimming in money.

The Republican state, known for not having an income tax, saw a a surplus of almost $33 billion last year – more than the South Carolina state budget.

Much of that is due to the hordes of people moving to Texas, with it predicted that Dallas could overtake New York as the state’s most populous city by 2100.

If population trends hold, Houston would replace Los Angeles as the second largest city in the US.

Despite all the newcomers, local leaders have not been able to capitalize on the newcomers, as have other cities and towns.

Dallas and surrounding suburban cities are expected to be home to nearly 34 million residents by the turn of the century, making it the largest city in the country.