The W.A.T.E.R Fund is a program administered by the City of Houston designed to provide financial assistance to senior citizens and others needing help with paying their water and wastewater bills. It is funded entirely through voluntary donations from customers, charities, and businesses and 100% of the contributions go toward assisting others. The City of Houston pays for all administrative costs.

The Fund assists low-income senior citizens (60+) who are residential utility customers of the City of Houston and live in a single-family dwelling. Limited assistance is also available to disable or low- income customers. Preference shall be given to those who have met the Federal (Health and Human Services) Poverty Guidelines for three (3) months or longer. Applicants can receive up to $100 every six (6) months towards their water bills. If the water bill is less than this amount, qualified seniors may use any remaining portion in the following months to pay those bills. At the end of six (6) months, customers may re-apply for further assistance.

Applications can be made to the City of Houston for W.A.T.E.R Fund assistance only. Other public and private agencies also assist residences with payment of their utility bills. Each agency has its own policies, qualifications, and application procedures. Please Contact customer service at (713) 371-1400 for a list of agencies.

The following are the other payments options available to pay Houston City Water bills:

• Pay by Phone: Payments may be made by calling our automated telephone service at (713) 371-1265. Please have your City of Houston account number available.
  
• Pay by Mail: Payments can be be mailed to P. O. Box 1560, Houston, TX 77251-1560. If you are sending a check payment, please make it payable to "City of Houston".
  
• Overnight Payment/Drop Box: This is located at Customer Account Services, 4200 Leeland, Houston, TX 77023-3016. Please do not submit cash payment.

You have 30 days from the date the citation was issued to contest for parking tickets issued by the City of Houston. 

You may contest a parking citation from the City of Houston online if it is within seven (7) days from citation issuance. If the citation prefix is P or V, you have 7 days after the citation is entered in the system to contest online or 30 days total to contest in person. 

• You can contest your citation online at https://houstonparking.t2hosted.com/app/index.aspx. 
• You may contest in person at the Parking Adjudication Office, 1400 Lubbock, Mon. – Fri., between 8:30 a.m. and 10 p.m. or Saturday, 8:00 am to 5 p.m.
  
  Please note that appointments aren't necessary and all hearings are held on a first-come, first-served basis.

The fine amount for parking tickets issued by the City of Houston’s Parking Management Division depends on the type & seriousness of the violation.

For example, vehicles parked in a Residential Permit area without a valid permit are subject to citation & the fine associated with it is $70. If the vehicle is towed, additional towing and storage fees will apply.

You can find the list of all offenses and the corresponding fine amount for parking tickets for the City of Houston here: www.houstontx.gov/parking/violationcodes.html.

Yes, in order to be eligible for a fine reduction or cancelation you should provide your driver’s license, a copy of the citation, and a copy of the valid handicap placard that was active/valid at the time of the citation. The City of Houston might also require a handwritten signed letter in some cases. 

Property Tax payments are due by January 31st in order to be considered timely.

The only exception to this rule is when the last day of the month is a Harris County holiday or falls on a weekend. In that case, then the next business day (or first business day in February) is honored as timely for receipt of payment.

Yes! For real property you can make monthly payments through June but you will have to pay penalty and interest starting February 1. If you still have a balance at the end of June, you can enter into an installment agreement with the Harris County Tax office at that time to pay any remaining balance plus penalty and interest over the next six months. While you won't avoid paying penalty and interest under this plan, you will avoid the additional collection fee of 15% to 20% on the outstanding balance by signing the installment agreement in June and making the payments on time.

Installment agreements are only available through April 1 for business personal property accounts that have been noticed in February. After April 1 the additional 15% to 20% collection fee will apply to these accounts.

You can pay your Harris County Property taxes using one of the following methods: 

• Pay by Mail: You can mail your payments by check should be mailed to:

      Ann Harris Bennett, Tax Assessor-Collector & Voter Registrar
     P.O. Box 3547
     Houston, Texas 77253-3547

     Please make your check payable to Ann Harris Bennett, and if possible, enclose the coupon from your tax statement with your payment.

• Pay by Phone: Harris County Tax Office accepts full or partial payment of property taxes by calling 713-274-CARD (2273) from any place in the world, seven days a week. Property taxpayers may also use any combination of credit cards and/or e-Checks for payment. The automated phone system accepts American Express, Discover, MasterCard, and Visa credit/debit card.
  
• Pay in Person: You can pay by cash or check at any of of branch office locations throughout Harris County. 

Those who have an over 65 or disabled exemption or the surviving spouse of a disabled veteran may request to pay their property taxes in 4 equal payments without penalty and interest.

Pursuant to Texas Occupations Code chapter 1201.206 (g) and Texas Property Tax Code section 32.03 (a-2), a person may not transfer ownership of a manufactured home until all recorded tax liens have been released and all taxes which accrued within the 18 months preceding the date of the sale have been paid.

Since tax liability is incurred on the 1st day of the year, you must pay the current year’s property taxes, if the sale occurs on or after the 1st day of the year.

To be eligible to register to vote in Texas, a person must be: 

• A United States citizen; 
• A resident of the Texas county in which application for registration is made; 
• At least 18 years old on Election Day; 
• Not finally convicted of a felony, or, if so convicted must have (1) fully discharged the sentence, including any term of incarceration, parole, or supervision, or completed a period of probation ordered by any court; or (2) been pardoned or otherwise released from the resulting disability to vote; and 
• Not determined by a final judgment of a court exercising probate jurisdiction to be (1) totally mentally incapacitated; or (2) partially mentally incapacitated without the right to vote.

A voter who has not been issued a driver’s license or social security number may register to vote, but such voter must submit proof of identification when presenting himself/herself for voting or with his/her mail-in ballots, if voting by mail.  These voters’ names are flagged on the official voter registration list with the annotation of “ID.”  The “ID” notation instructs the poll worker to request a proper form of identification from these voters when they present themselves for voting, unless they are a voter with a permanent exemption on the voter registration certificate. The voter must present one of the seven (7) acceptable forms of identification: 

• Texas driver license issued by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS)
• Texas Election Identification Certificate issued by DPS
• Texas personal identification card issued by DPS
• Texas concealed handgun license issued by DPS
• United States military identification card containing the person’s photograph
• United States citizenship certificate containing the person’s photograph
• United States passport

The most common symptoms of COVID-19 are fever, tiredness, and dry cough. Some patients may have aches and pains, nasal congestion, runny nose, sore throat or diarrhea. These symptoms are usually mild and begin gradually. Some people become infected but don’t develop any symptoms and don't feel unwell.

Most people (about 80%) recover from the disease without needing special treatment. Around 1 out of every 6 people who get COVID-19 becomes seriously ill and develops difficulty breathing. Older people, and those with underlying medical problems like high blood pressure, heart problems or diabetes, are more likely to develop serious illness.

People with fever, cough and difficulty breathing should seek medical attention.

You can find a detailed map with the spread of the cases here: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-in-us.html

You can find the latest information on the cases reported/counted in Texas here: https://www.dshs.state.tx.us/news/updates.shtm#coronavirus.

You can find the list of local health entities for assistance on COVID-19 response here: https://www.dshs.state.tx.us/regions/2019-nCoV-Local-Health-Entities/

The renewal fees are as follows: 

• Renewal of driver license (with or without changing address): $25
• Renewal of ID (with or without changing address): $16
• Renewal of driver license with motorcycle (with or without changing address): $33
• Replacement or change of address for driver license, commercial license or ID: $11