Sweetheart deals no more?

Many non-profit organizations pay the city nominal fees to rent their land. This was brought to light recently during the Center debacle, and now many other dollar-a-year deals with the city are under scrutiny, according to the Chronicle. Mayor Bill White would like to take a more characteristically "businesslike approach" to dealing with city leases. He believes that token rent agreements are justified only in rare circumstances in which the service provided in exchange is considered a core function of the city. Bob Christy, the director of the city's real estate had this to say about the city's new crackdown on sweetheart deals:

We are looking at all of them, whether they were $1 a year or $100. Whatever the case may be, we are trying to go back through them and determine whether those are warranted or not.

Although the media attention has been on the social service agencies located at West Dallas, Shepherd and Allen Parkway, other nonprofits also lease property, and even buildings, from the city. However, only a handful pay $1 a year, including the Houston Fire Museum and the Lighthouse for the Blind. Many others, like the Center for Hearing and Speech, have fees waived if the services they provide are worth more than their rent.