Harris County Commissioners Court hears hours of public pushback ahead of vote on record tax rate, $327M budget increase

HOUSTON (AP) — Harris County Commissioners Court convened a marathon public hearing Sept. 17 on proposed tax rate increases and the fiscal year 2027 budget, with dozens of residents lining up for and against a plan that would raise the county’s tax rate to $0.41750 per $100 valuation — an increase county officials say would push the average homeowner’s tax bill up 11.85%, or $142.38, to $1,344.31.

The published notice indicates Commissioners Ellis, Garcia and Briones were listed in favor of the proposed rate, while Judge Hidalgo and Commissioner Ramsey were listed against, in a pattern consistent with the 3-2 splits that have characterized recent tax votes on this court.

The proposed rate — up from $0.38096 last year, a 9.59% increase — is above the no-new-revenue rate of $0.38667 but at the voter-approval ceiling of $0.41750, meaning the increase can proceed without triggering a mandatory election. A companion increase for the Harris County Flood Control District, from a rate that would raise flood district taxes on the average home by $7 to $123 annually, was also before the court. County officials attributed part of the no-new-revenue rate increase to $32.3 million in state-mandated costs for housing inmates sentenced to Texas Department of Criminal Justice facilities and $161.8 million in indigent defense expenditures.

Public comment stretched for hours, dominated by opposition to both the tax increase and to roughly 129% pay increases the court approved for constables and other law enforcement positions in prior votes, which speakers said were driving the budget shortfall. Multiple speakers, including Precinct 4 resident Arnoldo Magana, CPA Cindy Siegel and treasurer candidate Mark Howard, argued the county has a “spending problem, not a revenue problem,” citing base salaries for elected officials exceeding $300,000 and a budget that has grown from about $1.3 billion under a prior court to roughly $3.1 billion. Note: Exact current total county budget figure was cited by speakers as “$3,100,000,000” but not independently confirmed by county staff in the transcript excerpt provided.

Judge Lina Hidalgo used her time during public comment to repeatedly press the case that the court should have taken the law-enforcement pay increases to voters rather than committing to costs she said were not fully budgeted in advance, telling one speaker the increases were “passed very quickly with discussion being limited” using procedural rules “to curtail discussion.” She said the court twice declined proposals to put large spending items — including the pay parity plan and multiyear early-childhood and children’s programs — to a public referendum, saying “why are we scared of the voters?” Commissioner Tom Ramsey similarly restated his opposition to the rate increase, framing the county’s finances as a matter of “priorities,” and questioned a Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas representative about why officers’ raises were being cited by the public as the driver of the tax hike.

Law enforcement representatives, including Harris County Deputies’ Organization President Jose Lopez, Harris County Deputy Constables Association President Lee Nino, and representatives of CLEAT and the Asian American Peace Officer Association, thanked the court for pay-parity raises with the Houston Police Department approved in prior budget cycles, saying the increases have improved deputy retention and reduced reliance on off-duty jobs. Sheriff’s office pay under the parity plan is set to rise from a base of $78,000 this year to roughly $84,000 next year, continuing on a stair-step schedule tied to a five-year HPD contract through 2031, according to county staff who answered questions from the dais.

Advocates for social service and violence-intervention programs, including the county’s HEART mental health co-responder program, the RISE violence interruption initiative, and the Domestic Violence Assistance Fund, urged the court to pass the budget to preserve funding, citing figures including more than 32,000 HEART responses and a reported 44% reduction in firearm-related homicides tied to RISE. Several speakers, along with Hidalgo, noted that roughly $1 million in funding for an 18-month program serving child survivors of domestic violence was cut from the current budget proposal, along with several early-childhood workforce development programs — including the Early Learning Quality Network and ACTS program run through the Children’s Learning Institute at UT Health Houston and Children at Risk — that were recognized with a National Association of Counties award but are not funded going forward absent further action.

Other speakers raised concerns unrelated to the tax rate, including opposition to a proposed railroad merger between Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern that residents said would worsen blocked crossings in the East End and Fifth Ward, and calls to cancel the county’s automated license plate reader (ALPR) contracts, which one speaker said cost the county more than $860,000 annually and raise surveillance concerns for immigrant communities.

The court took no recorded final action within the transcript provided; deliberation and voting on the tax rate and FY2027 budget were expected to follow the extended public comment period.

Also at this meeting:

• The court heard an invocation from Doug Stringer, president of Somebody Cares America, recognized as part of the meeting’s regular “industry of the day” segment.
• First Assistant District Attorney Chandler Rain thanked the court for pay parity for the office’s 116 investigators and memorialized investigator Myron Dillingham, who died in a car crash this year.
• Representatives of tax increment reinvestment zones (TIRZs) testified in support of the county budget, citing county funding leveraged for projects including Chimney Rock Road reconstruction and the Sharpstown Center Point Trail.
• Multiple speakers from the Texas Organizing Project and other advocacy groups urged continued funding for pollution control enforcement and eviction-prevention programs amid concerns about industrial polluters receiving tax abatements.
• Precinct 4 constituents and educators thanked the county for sidewalk and pedestrian infrastructure investments, including more than 82 miles of new sidewalks in west Harris County.