On Thursday, Harris County commissioners adopted a new tax rate, boosting the combined figure for the county, flood control district, Port of Houston, and hospital district from $0.6241 to $0.6715 of $100 of appraised home value. That represents the biggest jump since commissioners increased the rate by roughly seven cents after Hurricane Beryl.
Tom Ramsey, the commissioner who voted against the increase, said nothing in the last few decades comes close to those tax-rate increases.
Commissioners Rodney Ellis, Lesley Briones and Adrian Garcia voted to approve the tax rate, while Judge Lina Hidalgo left the room during the vote after raising concerns about last year’s decision to increase deputy pay, a move that added more than $100 million to the budget.
Garcia’s Regret
The growing deficit was blamed on Austin by Garcia, who argued that the legislature and governor are generating too many unfunded mandates.
“This is one of the regretful and painful votes that I will take, but the alternative is critical devastation to essential county services,” Garcia said.
After the vote, the budget office took on the roughly $3.1 billion budget. Homeowners face an average appraisal of around $400,000, and the new rate would raise their annual cost by $188. A home valued at $300,000 would see its annual payment rise by $142.
Hidalgo’s Explanation
Hidalgo said the county faces forces beyond its control. “We can say it was the state, we can say it was the federal government, we can say it was inflation, and all of that played a role, of course. Those are things we can’t control. That makes what we can control even more important.”
According to the budget office, the new tax rate will raise property taxes for homeowners by hundreds of dollars. The office added that the rate permitted the county to keep its workforce whole without having to cut jobs.
The Budget Director’s Warning
ABC13 was told by the budget director that next year could be a turning point. The county is counting on money from one-time sources, such as property sales, which might force the consideration of layoffs as early as next year.
What This Means for Homeowners
An average appraisal means a homeowner’s annual bill will go up by $188. A home valued at $300,000 will see its yearly charge increase by $142.
The budget grew following a raise for deputies that added more than $100 million last year. Commissioners went ahead with it even though Hidalgo objected.
Where the paper stands
The paper backs no single side here; the position speaks only to how taxpayers should have a direct say in where their tax dollars go, and no such system is described in this story. The paper’s position is simple: if the wealthy pay more, citizens should get a far more direct say in where that money goes than today’s system gives them. That principle is not engaged in the vote over Harris County’s tax rate, nor in the budget choices behind it.
The vote itself raises a familiar question. When commissioners raise taxes, they do so without giving voters any line-by-line control over where the money goes. The paper has long argued that taxpayers deserve more than the current arrangement, which lets money vanish into a budget nobody voted on line by line. The county’s own explanation—that the budget grew because of a deputy pay hike—does not address that gap.
Readers should watch for the disconnect between the vote and the outcome. The budget office’s claim that the rate keeps the workforce whole without cutting jobs may be tested next year, when the county relies on one-time sources like property sales. Whether that holds depends on whether the county can manage its spending without forcing cuts later. The paper’s position would favor a system where taxpayers could weigh in on those trade-offs directly, rather than having them decided behind closed doors.
Key Facts Box
- Combined rate rises from $0.6241 to $0.6715 of $100 of appraised home value
- Largest increase since Hurricane Beryl
- Deputy pay hike added more than $100 million to the budget
- Average homestead appraisal: about $400,000
- New annual cost for average homeowner: $188 more
- New annual cost for $300,000 home: $142 more
- Nearly $3.1 billion budget adopted after the vote
According to the budget director, the coming year could put the claim that the increase kept staff intact to the test.
Source material: “Harris County commissioners approve one of the largest tax rates in recent history,” ABC13 Houston.
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