InstantnewsBellaire.com

Controversy has been building this week among 14 Houston-area mayors — Including the mayors of Bellaire, West U. and Southside Place — who are worried they will lose substantial chunks of road repair funds their cities currently receive from Houston’s transit authority.

The controversy started early this week when a Houston newspaper published comments by David Wolff, outgoing chairman of the METRO Board of Directors, saying he thought the transit authority should stop giving money for road improvements to cities in METRO’s service area. He said the transit authority should instead use the funds to reach its own goals: expanding light rail, commuter rail and other transportation methods.

“That was money to be used for transit, not for roads,” Wolff told InstantNewsBellaire.com. “If METRO were able to regain its birthright it would be able to do much more in terms of transit.”

Mayors in the “multi-cities,” 14 enclave and outlying cities that belong to METRO, became concerned with Wolff’s comments and are unsure what to do about the situation.

“If METRO is not open to discussion about this, I think you would see some of the small cities thinking about the possibility of opting out,” Siegel said.

West U. city officials have already asked the city attorney to examine the legal basis behind stopping the city’s participation in METRO. It’s unclear whether that is possible.

In 1973 the state legislature passed a law that authorized the creation of local transit authorities. In 1978, Houston-area voters approved the creation of METRO and authorized a source of funding for the transit authority.

That funding comes from collecting a portion of the state’s 8.25 percent sales tax from the governments in the transit authority’s service area. METRO gets to collect 1 percent of sales tax from Harris County, Houston and the “multi-cities.” The local governments get 1 percent for their own coffers, and the state gets the remaining 6.25 percent.

Bellaire’s 1-percent share of its sales taxes has averaged over $2 million per year since 2003. That represents about the same annual amount that METRO gets from its share of Bellaire’s sales taxes.

In 1999, METRO formed an agreement to give the cities a “general mobility fund,” which is 25 percent of METRO’s portion of the sales tax. The cities can use the funds for street improvements and transit projects.

METRO’s general mobility fund payment to Bellaire totals $801,000 per year.

“It’s very important,” said Bellaire City Manager Bernie Satterwhite. “It makes a big impact with us being able to carry forward with our sidewalk program and our non-bond-funded streets program.”

Siegel said she thinks it’s important that Bellaire leaders decide how money is spent in the city, instead of allowing METRO to keep the funds and possibly use them in areas that do not benefit Bellaire residents.

METRO Board Member Burt Ballanfant, who represents the 14 multi-cities, said he’s been aware of the mayors’ concerns even before Wolff made public comments about ceasing the general mobility payments. He said he will work to address their concerns, but it is time to discuss the matter because of a referendum that voters approved in 2003.

“Under the mandate of the last referendum, that general mobility in some fashion would be put to the pubic for a vote,” Ballanfant said. The referendum mostly dealt with METRO’s plans to extend bus lines and build rail transportation, but it also authorized the general mobility fund.

Wolff said no other Texas transit authorities return 25 percent of their funding to member cities, and it was a mistake for METRO to enter the general mobility fund agreements. The agreements expire in 2014. At a board meeting on Dec. 17, Wolff asked other board members to think about the issue and begin public discussions about whether METRO should end the general mobility payments when the agreements expire.

“Between now and then there should be a public dialog among the voters about whether they want a first-class transit authority,” Wolff said. “It’s an issue that should be discussed in the open … Should METRO regain its birthright?”

Before deciding a course of action, many mayors in the 14 cities are waiting to see how the board changes with the new administration of Houston Mayor-Elect Annise Parker, who has authority to appoint five of the nine board members. Wolff will not be part of the new board.

“I think the city would like to see us entertain negotiations to extend the contract,” Siegel said.