Billion-dollar Houston firefighters deal yet to go before city council as fiscal year deadline looms

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — At Wednesday’s Houston City Council meeting, up to $8 billion was on the line just ahead of the new fiscal year starting July 1.

The council reviewed a $6.7 billion city budget proposal and a $650 million settlement aimed at resolving a long-standing, contentious eight-year dispute with the firefighters’ union. Controller Chris Hollins estimates that the total cost of the fire union agreement will exceed $1 billion.

“We’ll be issuing a bond to cover it. Given the current market interest rates and the 25- to 30-year repayment period, similar to a home mortgage, the total cost will be between $1.1 and $1.3 billion,” Hollins clarified.

Council members planned to tag both items, meaning they would delay voting for at least a week. However, before they could tag the firefighters’ agreement, Hollins, who is responsible for certifying financial items for the council, stated he couldn’t do so at this time.

“My office received the collective bargaining agreement and the back pay agreement for the first time on Monday afternoon, giving us less than two days to review,” Hollins explained.

The agreements collectively span around 150 pages.

Mayor John Whitmire acknowledged the urgency, stating, “You understand it was going to be tagged this morning, giving you an additional week. But, of course, you have your responsibilities.”

Hollins responded, “Exactly. I need to thoroughly understand it before moving forward.”

Hollins later emphasized to, “We take this seriously because my kids will still be paying for it when they’re taxpaying adults.”

Whitmire’s office confirmed both items would be added to the agenda for next week’s meeting. The delay provides time for the council to propose additional budget amendments.

Among the proposed amendments are requests to send approximately six additional auditors to the controller’s office and to increase the salary of a current auditor.

Hollins stated that these auditors would work on identifying ways to address the projected $200 million budget deficit. The mayor mentioned that no revenue increases would be considered until the following year. Potential measures include a tax increase and a garbage fee.

Hollins also mentioned that if the firefighters’ agreement isn’t approved before July 1, Whitmire could still authorize the firefighter raises set to take effect on that date.