City’s proposed transportation fee raises questions over how street money is spent

EL PASO, TEXAS (KFOX14/CBS4) — As El Paso City Council postponed a discussion on a proposed transportation user fee intended to fund road repairs, former State Representative Joe Pickett is warning residents to look closely at what the city is already charging and how those dollars are being spent.

The fee, which could eventually appear on El Paso Water bills, would apply to both households and some commercial businesses.

City staff have presented three possible monthly rates:

Julia Spencer reports on transportation fee (Credit:KFOX14)

Last week, Chief Financial Officer Robert Cortinas acknowledged the city’s current street maintenance budget of $10 million is insufficient but admitted uncertainty about the exact amount needed.

Pickett doesn’t dispute that El Paso’s streets need work but he argues the city already collects more than enough money to do it.

Pickett is currently suing the city over two existing fees tied to utility bills.

“The suit that I brought against the city was for two fees. One in particular on the garbage side of our bill that the city has created in an ordinance that says it’s in their ordinance for wear and tear on the streets. That fee by itself collects about 14 million dollars a year and then on the water side of the bill is another franchise fee that raises six and a half million dollars a year. So just simple math if you add the two fees that the taxpayers of El Paso are paying now is over 20 million dollars and the city by their own admission is supposed to be for wear and tear in the streets. They’re obviously not doing that.”

He argues those charges were labeled as street-repair fees but instead were used to help balance the city’s general fund. A judge has already ruled one of those fees unconstitutional.

Now, he says, the city appears to be trying the same thing under a different name.

“If they do this are they really going to use it for streets because we proved in a court of law That the city of El Paso was not using it for the purposes that they stated,” said Pickett.

Last week, KFOX14/CBS4 asked whether the proposed fee could end up facing a similar legal challenge, the city’s Chief Financial Officer Robert Cortinas said:

“We’re not attorneys until we don’t discuss any ongoing litigation. I think that’d be a question for city attorney’s office.”

Pickett says if the city wants the public’s trust, it needs to commit to spending every dollar of the new fee, and the old ones, only on street repairs.

“Going forward if the city wants to earn I guess the trust of the public they could create a dedicated account And show that that’s what it’s for,” said Pickett.

Pickett says he supports fixing the streets but only through a process that is honest, open, and accountable.

City council postponed discussion of the transportation user fee this week, and it’s unclear when it will return to the agenda.

Meanwhile, Pickett’s lawsuit over the existing fees is heading to the Eighth Court of Appeals next year.

Tags: