THE GIVING SEASON: TCEQ MAY LOOK TO CITIES FOR MORE MONEY
Cash-strapped state agencies may soon be looking to your city to pay more for state programs that the state does not fund with its own revenue.
In anticipation of a projected revenue shortfall in the 2010-2011 biennium, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) may seek to fund water program activities by restructuring Consolidated Water Quality (CWQ) fees and Public Health Service (PHS) fees. These two fees are the most broad-based, water-related fees at the agency and represent two of the top three revenue-generators at TCEQ.
TCEQ plans to amend the CWQ and the PHS assessment by rule as early as February 2009. These fees can be revised without statutory change, but TCEQ may also seek legislation to raise the $75,000 statutory cap to either $200,000 or to remove the cap altogether. This could result in enormous fee increases for some cities as TCEQ seeks to support their current level of water program activities.
TCEQ will no doubt ask the legislature to provide additional state general revenue for water programs, but if history is any indication it will ultimately fall on the shoulders of cities to fund these state activities.