Ok, I said someone ought to look into those “annexations for limited purposes,” and someone was me, since access to the agenda backup isn’t possible outside the city’s computer system. It seems awfully odd, if you ask me, that this information isn’t made available. It’s already there on a webserver, but for whatever reason, it’s only accessable over the city’s “choice.net” intranet.

In other words, if you’re not on a City of Houston computer, you ain’t getting it. (Hmmmmmm. Are the public computers in the Houston Public Library firewalled off? Probably….)

The problem with me getting it is pretty simple. The files are freaking huge. As in 15-20 megs; this week’s is a light heavyweight, coming in at nearly 17MB. That’s a bit large for a thumb drive, and someone might take it amiss if I start bringing a USB HD to work. Even assuming I owned one, which isn’t happening anytime soon. Then there’s the matter of disk space on my server. I haven’t exceeded my limit yet, but I’m getting close: 85 MB left. That’s actually a significant concern of mine, because I’ve kept my cyberbegging fairly low-key to date. If I start having to spring for extra space, well, I won’t go broke(r), but I’ll need to think about actually doing one of those obnoxious funding drive graphics. (As part of my work ‘under the hood’ this weekend, I’m going to see if I can reduce my space used.)

Dr. Heinous has some spiffy setup that allows him to run his own server at home despite the fact that his IP changes randomly; I don’t pretend to understand it and I just can’t see taking the time to learn Linux, Apache, PHP, SQL, and everything else I’d have to admin in order to host the site myself. J. Greely and Pixy can obsess over scripts and servers, I don’t have time to do so, which means I’m stuck paying for it.

In other words, there’s a significant problem with my being able to continue doing this. The file I bring to you today is a 15-page extract from the .pdf file, and at that, I’m sure I’m shorting everyone some interesting things they’d like to see. Unfortunately, it’s the best I can do, with the resources and restrictions I have. So without further ado, here’s the key portion of the RCA (Request for Council Action) from page 5 of the extract.

The text underneath the list of districts is facinating, at least to a government-geek like me. “In each of these Districts, except Harris County MUD 342 and 412, the sales taxes collected in the areas will be divided evenly between the City and the District and the only service provided will be the fireworks ban. The City is only annexing commercial property and undeveloped land intended for commercial use . There is no population located in these territories proposed to be annexed for limited purposes .
Harris County MUDs 342 and 412, both located on the western side of Lake Houston along West Lake Houston Parkway, have different terms. Both districts will be included in the area’s Fire Plan that supports the operation of the future Station 105 to be constructed on the corner of West Lake Houston Parkway and Deussen Parkway . In both districts, the City will provide fire suppression and emergency medical services to the area in exchange for a monthly assessment on each home, not to exceed $15 per month. In addition, police services will be provided ; no other city services will be provided . As for sales tax, the City will return 25% of the sales tax revenue back to 342. There is no sales tax to be derived from 412, as the area is entirely residential . In each of these two districts eligible voters will be allowed to vote in Houston elections for all city-wide positions and the District Council Member, in accordance with state law.”

The single funniest line to me is this: “…the only service provided will be the fireworks ban.” You heard it here first, folks — the fireworks ban is a service of the City of Houston!

The special terms for 342 and 412 are intriguing. All the districts but those two get half the city’s sales tax back. District 342 gets only 25%, and 412 gets screwed if anyone ever builds a corner store in the area. Also, the sloppy wording was about what I’ve come to expect from our Legal Department. (I think they must all be TSU grads or something.) Look at this line: “In both districts, the City will provide fire suppression and emergency medical services to the area in exchange for a monthly assessment on each home, not to exceed $15 per month. In addition, police services will be provided ; no other city services will be provided .”

We’ve just established above that the fireworks ban is a city service. Did the LD intend to exempt 342 and 412 from it? And get this… those two districts get city fire and police services (but no utilities or other services), at the low, low price of $15 per home.

In other words, unless it’s hidden somewhere in the fine print of “annexation” the residents of these two districts get to vote in city elections (District E), enjoy Houston’s dubious police and (once we construct the station) fire/EMT protection…

…and their property tax is capped at $15.

Am I missing something here?

Addendum: Yes, I am, it’s $15 a month. Ok, I don’t live inside the city limits, let me do some digging to see what I pay…

Update: haven’t found out anything yet and a family issue is going to keep me tied up for several days, which is going to kill my research time.