Councils say the darndest things...

Critics have said for years, if it looks likes a tax, it's a tax.  Regardless if you call it a fee.

Now, some council members have caught up to saying the same thing. 

Some council members are asking how we got here.  We have been asking them the same thing for years, remember they have been driving the bus.

Critics have long said our infrastructure needs are being ignored.  Is the Fort Worth council finally waking up as it continues to crumble around them?

Critics have also said we shouldn't build things we couldn't pay for.  Sounds simple, right?  Council members have now pushed the Cultural District parking garage hike off till next year. 

Read about all of it in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.  YOU can't afford not to.

Council members said officials clearly need to find a way to fund all of the city's growing infrastructure needs, but they can't consider any new fees until the city delivers on road projects that are years behind schedule.

Councilwoman Kathleen Hicks said the transportation fee, which would have added $5.90 to a single-family residence's monthly water bill, would be another form of taxation. "We're not calling it a tax, but it is," Hicks said.

Almost all the council members agreed on setting aside the fee, but Sal Espino said the council must have "a frank discussion on how we got here." He said the city cannot continue to ignore its projected 10-year transportation funding gap of $1 billion.

"We are in an infrastructure crisis in our city," Espino said.

Mayor Betsy Price said the fee can be shelved for now and reconsidered again if the city gets its expenses under control and finishes the delayed road projects that have been promised for years.

"It is time to stop the excuses and build the road," Councilman Jungus Jordan said.