Harris County will take advantage of this year’s three weather-related disasters and utilize the Governor’s disaster declaration and state law to help eliminate the projected $130 million budget deficit.

Under a law passed by the Texas Legislature in 2019, county property tax revenue is capped at 3.5 percent, and the Commissioners Court cannot exceed that amount without voter approval.

However, this upper limit does not apply during declared disaster situations.

Governor Greg Abbott declared a state of emergency for Harris County due to flooding from the San Jacinto River in April, the derecho in May and Hurricane Beryl in July.

The declarations, county officials said, allow the Commissioners Court to increase its general property tax revenue by up to 8 percent without seeking voter approval. This one-year increase is expected to generate an additional $89 million for the county.

LAST YEAR: Harris County approves $2.4 billion budget and sets slightly lower property tax rate

The county faced a $130 million deficit for the 2025 fiscal year, which begins October 1.

In addition to the disaster declaration, county budget director Daniel Ramos said his office was able to close the remaining gap by adding $50 million through higher fees for services, using Harris Health to cover some health care costs at the Harris County Jail and identifying $21 million in spending cuts in individual departments.

No layoffs are expected and Ramos said the budget does not include “draconian cuts.”

“We have not made any across-the-board cuts,” Ramos said. “I want to stress that. We have not made any across-the-board cuts and we never will as long as I am in office.”

Harris County’s $2.6 billion budget proposal is an 11 percent increase from last year. Officials attributed the increase largely to state mandates such as decommissioning of prisons, rising health care costs and investments in legal representation for indigent defendants.

On Tuesday, the 2025 budget was presented to commissioners and the public for the first time. The county will hold community events throughout August to discuss the budget with voters. There will also be a series of public hearings in early September where directors will explain their rationale for their department’s spending.

The budget is expected to be passed at the end of September.

Flood rate: Harris County will ask voters in November to raise the flood control district’s property tax rate

After Harris County gained a Democratic majority on the Commissioners Court in 2018, the county changed its spending philosophy. Rather than focusing largely on infrastructure as it traditionally did, the new Commissioners Court significantly expanded social programs to strengthen the social safety net for the county’s unincorporated areas. This expansion of services was made easier during the coronavirus pandemic, when the county received $1.8 billion in federal aid.

Earlier this year, however, Ramos warned the Commissioners Court that the district’s spending was “on a knife edge” and that the district would likely run a deficit for the first time in years.

On Thursday, District Judge Lina Hidalgo, with the support of 1st District Commissioner Rodney Ellis, made the motion to ask voters to allow the district to permanently increase tax revenues by 8 percent each year.

Hidalgo said this would help the county “be in a more sustainable position to maintain basic services, give police officers pay raises, and continue and expand its own services that were increased under the American Rescue Plan.” The motion was defeated 2-3.

The failure of the vote will not affect the county’s ability to collect up to 8 percent more property tax revenue in the 2025 fiscal year.

The district has had to lower its tax rate every year for the last five years.

Last week, Second District Commissioner Adrian Garcia and Third District Commissioner Tom Ramsey said they were hesitant to ask voters for additional money for the county without taking a closer look at its finances and imposing a hiring freeze.

Although Harris County remains in a “strong financial position,” it will still face an uphill battle for future investments in the coming fiscal year, especially as federal funds from the American Rescue Plan begin to dwindle, officials said.

“I think I’ve expressed pretty clearly the red alert that the court is facing with respect to spending decisions,” Ramos told the commissioners.

Last week, the court decided to ask voters in November to raise the flood control district’s property tax rate to fund a “groundbreaking” drainage investment for years to come.

The county’s current tax rate is 3.1 cents per $100 of assessed value.

The Commissioners Court is proposing a rate of 4.879 cents per $100 of assessed value. If voters approve, that would mean an additional $60 for the owner of a $380,000 home with a 20 percent property tax exemption, county officials said.

In other business Thursday, the court voted 4-1 against Ramsey to revive the Uplift Harris program.

The revival of the guaranteed income program comes two months after the Texas Supreme Court blocked the earlier attempt on constitutional grounds.

Uplift Harris 2.0 will re-enroll previously selected participants with a debit card and tighter spending limits. The program’s redesign will take about four months, officials said.

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