HOUSTON’S UNACCOUNTABLE TIRZS AFFLICT BOTH THE POOR AND THE ULTRA-RICH 
“The TIRZ system benefits high-dollar commercial areas and essentially ignores poorer neighborhoods that are primarily residential,” writes reporter Steve Jansen in a longish article that attempts to explain Houston’s arcane and secretive system of Tax Increment Reinvestment Zones. But there’s seething at the other end of the economic spectrum as well — especially over the Uptown TIRZ’s plan to install dedicated bus lanes down the center of Post Oak Blvd. Comments University Line light-rail and Uptown bus lane opponent Daphne Scarborough, who’s attended some anti-TIRZ gatherings, to Jansen: “I’ve never seen so many angry multimillionaires and -billionaires in one room.†[Houston Press; previously on Swamplot] Drawing of proposed Post Oak bus lanes: Uptown Management District
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There is nothing scarier than reading a news article about something you know a fair amount about, realizing how wrong/misleading it is, and then wondering if they are all like this…
Please, God, no.
I work on Post Oak (in fact my building is one of those pictured in that rendering) at it’s already enough of a cluster as it is.
It’s currently only three lanes each way with a single median, so how the rendering shows there to still be three lanes one way and four the other, but now with a roughly three lane wide median is beyond me. That would put the edges of the street about two lanes (with landscaping, sidewalk, etc.) into the fronts of businesses from where they are now.
To go from my building to 610 at rush hour can take easily 15 minutes (which sounds short, but it’s about a quarter mile…). It’s hard to see how they could take out three of the seven lanes worth of space and not turn the street from a hassle to abysmal.
I am not a multimillionaire nor a billionaire, but this is an awful idea.
Houston Press is a good source of information only when Kroger is sold out of National Enquirers.
So Hydrocarbon, making the median wider (and not taking away any regular lanes) will make things worse…exactly how?
tax increment Reinvestment zone (TIRZ)
Hydrocarbon,
I’m not a big fan of the plan, but I do know it fits. METRO used the exact same configuration when rail was planned for Post Oak. Right of way maps were developed. There were some slivers of land added in certain areas and adjustments to the lanes to make it all fit.
Its never what you know always what you don’t know.
For instance, does anyone realize that south bound cars on Post Oak will LOSE their exclusive right turn lanes on San Felipe and on Westheimer.
Lose as in “gone” forever thanks to 60 ft long, million dollar METRO Buses and Uptown Development.
Or, three more open current open turn medians will be closed permanently. (One for the Hilton Hotel)
Or, a southbound turn ONLY out of Neiman’s Valet lot due to a median closing.
Or, Dillards ROW loss is over 1/2 acre.
As big a ROW loss for Williams Tower — their new driveway AFTER Uptown Development ROW taking is nothing short of a disaster. (The Stairs/Poles near sidewalk — GONE)
One more little thing: Our Mayor is SELLING POST OAK PARK to the adjoining property owner — AMREIT.
It goes on and on…………………….SAVE POST OAK!
If seeing a rendering of buses and trees on the road where you go to work causes deep feelings of anger and misgiving inside of you… you might be a redneck.
@localplanner
because reasons?
@mike: Thanks for the catch. We’ve corrected it.
The problem with these TIRZ is they primarily operated in secret up until now. The cats out of the bag . The Uptown TIRZ did not engage the property owners upfront. Yes, there were notices of meetings posted at 201 Caroline. The first speaker at any of the TIRZ meetings according to their minutes was in May 2014, the Uptown TIRZ was formed in 1999 . Is that apathy or are people just not going down to 201 Caroline like they are supposed to lol? The Uptown TIRZ picked the wrong group to try to grab property . If TIRZ are to survive, the board needs to be elected not appointed, then no one can gripe
The TIRZ concept and that of its less fortunate cousin the “Management District” is an out of control, greed-centric charade to benefit and enrich insiders like Hawes Hill Calderon or anyone else the unelected choose to anoint. The lack of transparency only encourages their shady behavior (as evidenced by the recent Midtown / Montrose attempted grab which was temporarily halted pending ongoing public input). Time to change the law. Time to eradicate management districts. What has the Montrose Management District ever accomplished despite having paid large sums of “consulting fees†to Hawes Hill Calderon? Why is Hawes Hill afraid to talk to the press? The Uptown district will absolutely F up Post Oak with their lame bus project. Not needed. Not appropriate. Why destroy a perfectly good road? How about using the taxpayer’s money to fix the god damned roads that need to be fixed instead of creating make-believe projects !
Well, they never complained when the secrecy of the TIRZ system helped them make $$$ – hope it’s worth it.
@toasty: Thank you for such a satisfying answer. I’m assuming you left off the sarcasm tag.
The Uptown property owners, who are represented on the TIRZ and District boards, have been working on the bus lanes plan for many years now.
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For those hating on TIRZ and management districts, there’s so many in the City of Houston because they get way way more actually DONE than the City of Houston on its own through the CIP or whatever. And that was as true before TIRZ and management districts as it is now. The other entities that get things done in our public spaces and infrastructure – private sector nonprofits and philanthropic organizations. Who, by the way, are also unelected.
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Don’t like the outsized role these three groups play in our city? Elect City officials who will actually get projects done. By the way, they’ll probably increase your taxes to do so. Otherwise, live with not getting things done. Except for projects funded by the drainage fee (“rain tax”). Oh wait, you don’t like that one either?
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Last thing to note, TIRZ Boards are formed per state law. The law does not provide for them to be elected.
Magaziner writes: “Or, a southbound turn ONLY out of Neiman’s Valet lot due to a median closing.”
I respond: “The encumberance of an unnecessary and elitist valet operation? Where do I sign up to support this project?!”
@Local Planner
” …TIRZ Boards are formed per state law. The law does not provide for them to be elected.”
The law needs to change such that board membership be ELECTED by the local stakeholders they actually “represent”. Follow that up by holding them accountable / requiring financial statement transparency.
Simple.
TIRZ were designed to assist poorer neighborhoods develop but have been utilized by richer neighborhoods to keep their money internal to themselves. The conservative in me says, good. The 5th ward resident in me says, this stinks.
This 9 page article on the ~$150 million going into TIRZ’s never mentions the total Houston budget is $4.7 billion. Something tells me we are not in danger of TIRZ’s taking over…
I’m so tired of this tired towards MMDs and TIRZs. The taxes you have to pay as a property owner are well beyond the crazy stage in some areas.
LocalPlanner: “The other entities that get things done in our public spaces and infrastructure – private sector nonprofits and philanthropic organizations. Who, by the way, are also unelected.”
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The difference is these MMDs have the power of government force. Don’t pay whatever they say you have to pay? They can take your private property and livelihood. I know. My “protest” against them got squashed when the court forced me to pay. That’s a bit different than how the private sector, nonprofits, and philanthropic organizations get things done.
@Cody: Yes, that is a significant difference obviously. And some MMDs have done a better job of delivering beneficial services and improvements than others. My main point is that they are so prevalent because enough property owners and businesses don’t feel like they’re getting the level of service they need from the City or other entities, and would rather tax / assess themselves to get those services rather than pay more in other taxes, because they know they’ll have a better chance at spending that revenue the way they want.
I’m glad the TIRZ and Uptown district is taking a proactive role in getting this done and managing the construction. I saw what Metro and the city did building the rail line on Main street and I think this will be a better solution and result.
Dream
Another BAD Metro plan. They’re gonna RUIN PO Blvd. Run the damn buses /trains through RIVER OAKS and Tanglewood. Y’all are bitching about property taxes in Harris COunty/Houston . Try property taxes in Cali / NY/ Europe(especially London ) ,Tokyo et al. Of course we don’t get the commensurate level of services from our half assed COH government ; for example: theAnnise Parker administration sold us a load of goods with the “drainage fee / tax ” ; which the Texas Supreme Court ruled is INVALID. She said the most deteriorated infrastructure would be addressed first.But NO- her Public Works Dept has resurfaced San Felipe between S. Shepherd & Kirby Dr. – TWICE. Didn’t even need it. And right now the PWD is rebuilding S.Shepherd from Allen Parkway to Westheimer Rd. Talk about crooked /shady/sketchy and ass kissing/brown nosing. Annise Parker , like some pols , is egotistical and megalomaniacal. Thankfully terms limits apply to COH politicians. Finally METRO has pissed off the wrong group. The TIRZ’s / Management Districts / Public Private Partnerships / Private Foundations are tools of the Establishment and will do what THEY want. Not what the public wants. Look at Ed Emmett of Harris County- the power mad a-hole TOTALLY has ignored the MAJORITY of the public voters who want the Astrodome demolished. But NO- he’s another special interest WHORE !!! By the way: Ed Emmett is NOT a real Judge- it’s a pompous left over term from the Old Southern mentality. He’s the CEO of the Harris County government.
“My main point is that they are so prevalent because enough property owners and businesses don’t feel like they’re getting the level of service they need from the City or other entities, and would rather tax / assess themselves to get those services rather than pay more in other taxes, because they know they’ll have a better chance at spending that revenue the way they want.”
^ That’s a good point. I think that the chief criticism of them, however, is that most people don’t understand the minutia of state or local governance. I’d be willing to consider that that reflects poorly on the citizenry or on the quality of civics education, but lets be realistic about this subject matter. it’s obscure. If you’re a certain kind of attorney, a certain kind of real estate professional, a certain kind of engineer then you’ve probably been exposed to key concepts about them to the point that you’re conversant in the generalities and whether you actively involve yourself in the goings-on are . The remaining 98% of people are barely aware, not conversant, and generally uninterested. An added concern, most journalists don’t really understand what’s going on. And they’re averse enough to covering the going-on of small municipalities because those jurisdictions do not usually represent a viable media market; TIRZs and Management Districts add an extra layer of ‘fog’ to the democratic process.
That might ironically be why these entities are as effective as they are, but also why it is reasonable even for informed people to have qualms about whether the system is just.
Imagine a small business owner, let’s say that they sell mattresses… They pay the property taxes to fund the project as part of their lease. Their landlord might favor redevelopment or even have a seat on the board of the Uptown District/TIRZ. The business owner’s understanding of what’s going on or how it came about is probably very tenuous; they may have become well-informed about the project after it is already too late to effectively participate in a political process. Attempts by the Uptown District/TIRZ to solicit constituent feedback, even if well-intended, are probably met mostly by ignorance perhaps with a feeling of helplessness. Rational ignorance may well be justified, even if they can be counted as an otherwise capable and intelligent constituent. Even if the governing entity is doing its job very well and exceeding the requirements of its charter, that doesn’t necessarily mean that it is operating according to a good framework for democratic governance. The mattress store owner is likely to end up being pissed off, rightly or wrongly, and I understand why.