Mayor Parker unveils change to drainage fee

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Houston Mayor Annise Parker says she wants to make sure people pay the drainage fee they voted for, even if that means the city can't raise all the money that was expected.

Ask an average Houstonian how much their drainage fee may be and you often get something like this.

"I have no clue. How much is it normally? Ten dollars, 3 or 4 dollars?" wondered Houstonian Shynae Godfrey.

Initially, Mayor Parker told voters that the median drainage fee would be about $5 per month, but in reality, the first round of numbers puts it closer to $8. So Mayor Parker on Thursday announced a new plan.

"The Rebuild Houston initiative itself may bring in fewer dollars, but in the grand scheme of things, it's a great program," she said. "I'm very supportive of it, but this is about maintaining a level of fairness."

In the revamped drainage fee structure, there will be an 1,000 square feet impervious cover credit for every piece of property in town, bringing the median monthly home fee to $5.

Critics remain unsatisfied.

"This whole system has been a fix as you go instead of a pay as you go and we don't think that's the way to do business in public policy," said opponent David Welch.

But Mayor Parker says drainage fee opponents will never be satisfied.

"This is not about addressing critics. This is not about addressing the people who don't want this program, worked against this program, will never never agree this is an important program," said Mayor Parker.

The revamped structure is expected to raise $15 million less a year than the original plan of $125 million a year for drainage. Voters we talked to say they just hope all that money actually makes an impact.

"I'm never in favor of paying more money for anything, but if it supports the city and it's what the city needs, then absolutely I'm in favor," said Houstonian Bev Taylor.

If you get a drainage bill and it's much larger than what you expected, you're asked to contact the city to contest it. The city admits there could be mistakes.

(Copyright ©2011 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.) Get more Local »

annise parker, local, miya shay

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Are you paying too much for new drainage fee?

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- If you have a trampoline, trailer or boat in your yard, you could be paying more than your fair share of the city's new drainage fee.

The city of Houston is using satellite images of your yard to figure out the impervious surface, but that satellite image is mistaking all sorts of things as impervious surfaces.

We found all sorts of examples of mistakes made in calculating the drainage fee. If you do not appeal the errors, you are stuck paying for more impervious surfaces than you really have.

Barbara Stepanski's backyard is a playground for her grandchildren, complete with a trampoline.

"It is for the grandkids and they like it and they have always had the trampoline so they will have something to do," she said.

Unfortunately for Stepanski, when it comes to the new drainage fee, the city's satellite images see the trampoline, her trailer and tractor the same way it sees concrete -- as impervious surfaces

It's the very thing that is used to figure out how much money she owes unless she appeals the fee.

"I will go and see what I can do about that," said Stepanski. "That's not right."

The satellite images are taken every other January, so if you have a car or boat in your backyard, check the rebuildhouston.org web site and see if it's accurate. While the appeals process has started, the Coalition for a Greater Houston is going to court to get the election overturned.

The coalition recently surveyed 600 voters about the fee. The group says about half of the respondents voted for the fee but now many have changed their minds.

"If they had known that certain groups were going to be exempted, they would have voted against the proposition 65 to 29," said former Harris County tax assessor Paul Bettencourt.

The city is asking a judge to throw out the lawsuit. Even so, officials admitted that errors on the maps are to be expected and that's why homeowners should take a close look at the satellite images of their property.

"There may, in fact, be some situations that citizens had something else that looked impervious to from the maps," said said Chief Development Officer Andy Icken. "We want them to correct it."

To find your home, you'll have to go to the RebuildHouston.org web site, enter your address and then click on the impervious surface tab. The web site also talks you through the appeals process.

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action13, jeff ehling

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