reprinted from:
To some, an idea
less than sporting;
By Eric Berger Whether inadvertently or not, a state legislator has raised the possibility of spending money earmarked for sports facilities on hospitals instead. Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston, insists that his idea would not come to fruition at the expense of a downtown arena and that he is one of the proposed facility's biggest supporters. But he has come under fire all the same. Coleman was one of many legislators to co-author the 1997 law that allowed Texas communities to create a board to collect hotel and car-rental taxes to build specific venues such as sports stadiums and convention centers. Voters created such a board here, the sports authority, which has funded Enron Field and the new football stadium. Funding a venue is a three-step process. The venue must be within the sports authority's mandate, the 13-member board must choose to fund it, and voters must approve the project. The arena project has passed the first two steps and awaits voter approval Nov. 7. Now Coleman has proposed helping the ailing Harris County Hospital District by adding the district and other such agencies to the sports authority's mandate. That would contradict one of the arena campaign's most frequent arguments; that taxes collected by the sports authority may only be used for stadium-like expenses within the sports authority's mandate - not schools, roads or hospitals. Although Coleman's proposal is just that, arena supporters are concerned that the mere hint that hotel and car-rental taxes could be used for anything but an arena or similar venue opens a Pandora's box. Coleman tried to shut that box, saying he is in no way advocating swapping arena money for hospitals. "I have been an arena supporter from day one," he said. Coleman said that if voters turn down the arena proposition, his legislation would still carve out money for an arena before any money could be spent on the hospital district. No local legislator contacted this week said he would support amending the law at the arena's expense. Still, that Coleman would blur the issue during the arena campaign was baffling to its proponents and to county officials whom the change might affect. "I don't think you should go into an exploration of an idea like this in the middle of a campaign," said County Commissioner El Franco Lee. While making no changes in the county's overall property-tax rate, Commissioners Court voted recently to increase the portion allocated to the hospital district by 38 percent to help balance the district's budget. Lee said he wondered why Coleman did not raise the idea of using sports authority money for the hospital district during the 1999 legislative session, when the district was in even more financial peril. Also at issue is whether it's fair to apply hotel taxes, which have historically been used to stimulate economic development, on hospitals for indigent care. "It's a mix of elements that is inappropriate," said Ned Holmes, chairman of a special task force appointed by the county to study how the hospital district could resolve its annual budget crises. Holmes, who also is treasurer of the pro-arena campaign, said the solutions to the hospital district's problems lie in getting the district its fair share of state and federal health-care funding, not taxes on local businesses. Further compounding the confusion is that if voters do approve the proposed arena, the sports authority will have committed nearly every cent it receives from its hotel and car-rental taxes to its three stadium projects. In other words, unless hotel and car-rental use escalates dramatically in Houston and Harris County, it would be many years before the sports authority would have any money to give the hospital district. Adding the hospital district to the sports authority's mandate is one of 14 options that a review commission, of which Coleman is chairman, will consider before making recommendations to help the hospital district during the next legislative session. One committee member, state Sen. Mario Gallegos, D-Houston, said Coleman's idea had merit, but only if the arena vote passes. "I like his idea," Gallegos said. "It helps Houstonians." Arena opponents were giddy when told of Coleman's proposal, even though the representative has said arena funds would be protected regardless of the Nov. 7 election's outcome. "It makes more sense to
take care of the sick and dying than to create wealth for a few people,"
said conservative activist Bruce Hotze. |
