Harris County budget chief unveils $3.08B spending plan; commissioners debate one-time fixes, health costs, eviction fee hike

HOUSTON — Harris County Commissioners Court on Aug. 17 received a proposed $3.08 billion fiscal year 2027 budget that relies heavily on one-time savings, including land sales and reallocated investment income, to close a projected deficit that grew from $129 million in May to $181 million by summer, county Budget Director Daniel Ramos told the court.

No votes were taken on the budget itself Sunday; commissioners are scheduled to set tax rates and finalize budget amendments Sept. 8. But the meeting produced several concrete actions, including unanimous votes establishing the county’s elected-officials salary grievance committee, and a motion from Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia to raise constable eviction fees from $85 to $120, projected to generate about $3 million a year.

Budget deficit driven by health care, pay parity, inflation

Ramos said the biggest driver of the shortfall was group health insurance costs, which came in at roughly 12% growth this year and 15% last year after the county had budgeted for far smaller increases — a two-year gap he said cost the county $89 million more than planned. Other major cost drivers included the second full year of law enforcement pay parity ($45 million plus $31 million to fully fund vacancies), $69 million to restore one-time savings used in prior years, $61 million in contract and supply cost increases tied to inflation, and $30 million in increased payments to Tax Increment Reinvestment Zones (TIRZs).

To close the gap, the proposed budget draws on $61 million in departmental and countywide cuts, a $16 million fiscal year 2025 surplus, $111 million in identified revenue and savings options, and proceeds from a court-directed effort to sell roughly $25 million worth of county-owned property through committees working with individual commissioners. Ramos said the budget, if fully implemented, would generate a $21.7 million surplus that could go toward court priorities or tax-rate relief. He said the plan includes zero layoffs.

Commissioner Tom Ramsey pressed Ramos on the reliance on one-time fixes, noting the county has now run a “structural” deficit for what he called the fifth consecutive budget cycle, a characterization Ramos did not dispute. Ramsey later noted that county spending has grown from about $1.9 billion in 2019 to roughly $3 billion proposed this year, an increase of about $1 billion.

Commissioner Rodney Ellis raised concerns about proposed increases to employee health care contributions, calling the issue “a red line for me” and saying he would not support a budget that shifts more costs onto workers. Ramos said the budget assumes some employee cost-sharing changes remain in place, noting the court retains final say. Ellis also questioned a proposed $7.7 million reduction in pension contributions; Ramos and Commissioner Lesley Briones both sought assurances — which Ramos confirmed — that the change would not reduce benefits for current retirees or employees, noting the county’s pension system is 90.1% funded, above the 80% threshold considered healthy by the Government Finance Officers Association and higher than most large Texas counties except Tarrant County.

Garcia and Ramos also discussed unfunded state mandates, including an estimated $12 million a year in election-related debt service tied to state-mandated voting equipment, $40 million in inmate outsourcing costs, and impacts from state laws SB23, SB9, HB196 and HB26 that Ramos said limit the county’s ability to control law enforcement salary costs and property tax revenue growth. Ramos and Briones noted a new state business personal property tax exemption removed $8 billion in taxable value from county rolls, raising the effective tax rate by about 1 cent and costing the average homesteader roughly $23 more per year.

Eviction fee increase, other motions

Garcia’s motion directs the Office of Management and Budget to return Sept. 8 with a plan to raise constable eviction fees to $120, matching Montgomery County’s rate and exceeding Galveston County’s $110. Ramos said the county’s current $85 fee — already set to rise to $100 under the proposed budget — was last adjusted three years ago after remaining unchanged since the early 2010s. Commissioner Ellis seconded the motion; further discussion was deferred to the Sept. 8 session. Garcia also asked Ramos to find funding to maintain the Harris County Public Library System’s accreditation, estimated at “a little over a million” dollars, which Ramos said would make Harris County the only accredited library system of its kind in the region.

Grievance committee established

Earlier in the meeting, the court voted unanimously, 5-0, to adopt a randomized list of 309 individuals who served on Harris County grand juries in 2025, for use in forming the statutory salary grievance committee. After debate over whether the committee should include six statutorily designated elected officials (the sheriff, tax assessor-collector, treasurer, county clerk, district clerk, county attorney and district attorney) alongside public members, or consist entirely of public members, the court voted unanimously to adopt a motion by Commissioner Briones establishing an all-public-member committee, citing potential conflicts of interest since an elected official challenging their own salary could otherwise sit on the panel deciding it. The court also voted unanimously to select public members and alternates from the randomized list.

Public comment dominated by policing, budget priorities

More than two dozen residents spoke during public comment, the majority urging the county to end its contract for Flock Safety automated license plate readers, which speakers with the group Woori Juntos said have been used by law enforcement officers to stalk women and expose immigrant communities to surveillance. Other speakers urged continued funding for the HEART (Holistic Assistance Response Team) and RISE violence-interruption programs, the Domestic Violence Assistance Fund, early childhood intervention services, sidewalk and park maintenance, and public health and library services. Several speakers, including representatives of the Texas Civil Rights Project and Texas Organizing Project, criticized the county for asking most departments to model 8% budget cuts while not requiring similar cuts from the sheriff’s or constables’ offices.

Also at this meeting:

• The court corrected the language of an executive session item (Item 19) regarding executive compensation for “certain appointed officials” under Texas Government Code 551.074.
• District Clerk staff presented the process for generating a cryptographically randomized list of 2025 grand jurors for the salary grievance committee.
• Commissioner Garcia asked the county engineer to provide maintenance cost estimates for county-owned properties being considered for sale.
• Commissioner Briones asked staff to detail how much revenue could be redirected from Harris Health to the county health department amid ongoing budget negotiations.
• The court deferred discussion of proposed changes to healthcare and premium benefit rates (Item 4) and a contract termination for a federally funded homeless dental care program (Item 5) to later in the same session.