Harris County commissioners voted 3-2 Tuesday to move forward with the highest property tax rate in the county’s modern history, a 7.6 percent increase meant to help close a budget shortfall of more than $180 million.
The new rate sets the combined levy at 67 cents per $100 of taxable property value, up from 62 cents, and is expected to cost the average homeowner between $190 and $198 more annually, depending on the estimate used. Final adoption is scheduled for a public hearing on Sept. 17.
The shortfall marks the fourth consecutive budget deficit the county has faced since 2023. County officials point to three main drivers: law enforcement pay raises, rising health care costs, and fees paid to attorneys appointed to represent defendants who cannot afford one.
Commissioner Tom Ramsey, the court’s lone Republican, proposed keeping the rate unchanged.
Commissioner Adrian Garcia proposed a slightly lower rate that would have used a projected $15 million surplus to pay down county debt instead, saving the average homeowner roughly $24 compared to the rate that passed.
Both proposals failed on 3-2 votes, and Garcia ultimately supported the higher rate, stating that federal and state governments had shifted costs onto the county.
Judge Lina Hidalgo voted against the increase, telling commissioners she has never funded a program without knowing funding was available and calling the years of spending decisions that led to this point irresponsible.
The surplus generated by the new rate has not yet been assigned to specific programs; commissioners are expected to do so at the Sept. 17 meeting.
Much of the deficit traces back to law enforcement pay. Commissioners voted in May 2025 to raise sheriff’s deputies’ pay to match a new Houston police contract, adding roughly $191 million in costs for the coming fiscal year. The county’s eight constables received their own raises last August, moving their salaries from about $178,000 to roughly $293,000 each. Those changes will continue phasing in through 2030, when law enforcement raises are projected to add close to $292 million annually to the county budget.
The county’s contract patrol program is also feeling the strain. Businesses and neighborhoods that pay for dedicated deputy patrols traditionally covered about 70 percent of an officer’s salary, with taxpayers subsidizing the remaining 30 percent. This year, that taxpayer subsidy grew to $76 million, or nearly half the total cost of the program, as officials phase in higher deputy salaries gradually to avoid mass cancellations from contract customers.
Health care costs are rising. The county’s plan requires no employee premiums and carries a $600 annual deductible—a more generous package than most large Texas counties offer. Total health care spending is expected to top $577 million this year, a 33 percent increase over four years, and the health care fund has run a deficit in three of the past four years.
Indigent defense costs have doubled over five years to $126 million, driven partly by a 2023 fee change that lets court-appointed attorneys bill for work done outside the courtroom. The county’s public defender’s office has grown to take on more of these cases, but three years into what was meant to be a three-year buildup, it still handles less than a quarter of eligible cases.
Commissioners have until Oct. 1 to finalize the county’s budget.
