Harris County commissioners approved a historic property tax increase tied to a $3.1B budget, with supporters defending services and critics blaming spending.
Harris County Commissioner’s Court
Commissioners voted 3-1 to formally adopt a combined tax rate of about 67 cents per $100 of taxable value, the highest combined county rate in recent history. The vote supports a $3.1 billion budget for the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1.
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The tax rate applies across four entities: Harris County, the Harris County Flood Control District, Harris Health System and the Port of Houston Authority. County officials said the new rate will cost the average homeowner roughly $198 more this year, according to the Houston Chronicle. ABC13 reported budget officials put the increase at $188 a year for an average $400,000 homestead and $142 for a $300,000 home.
Commissioners Rodney Ellis, Lesley Briones and Adrian Garcia voted for the tax increase.
Commissioner Tom Ramsey, the court’s lone Republican, voted no. Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo was recorded absent during the tax-rate vote after briefly stepping out of the meeting, though she voted against the increase last week. The court also adopted the fiscal year 2027 budget on a 3-2 vote, with Ramsey and Hidalgo opposed.
In a separate Instagram post, Hidalgo criticized commissioners over $400,000 she said was left unallocated in the budget and tied the money to a program for children exposed to domestic violence.
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“I asked them, like, ‘Are you proud of not supporting the continuation of this program? What do you want to spend the $400,000 on?’ and of course, nobody answered, which is what has been happening,” Hidalgo said.
The budget process was dominated by a more-than $180 million deficit, the county’s fifth straight annual shortfall, according to the Chronicle. Supporters pointed to rising health care costs, court-appointed attorney costs, law enforcement raises and what they describe as unfunded state and federal mandates.
Supporters blame Trump and Abbott
After the vote, Briones, Ellis and Garcia held a news conference defending the increase and blaming decisions by Republican state and federal leaders for pushing more costs onto local taxpayers.
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“President Trump has put deep cuts to the Affordable Care Act,” Ellis said. “That impacts us, and that means that we have to make up for that. Deep cuts to programs that protect women and domestic violence. When that happens, we’re where the rubber meets the road.”
Garcia made a similar case in a Houston Chronicle opinion piece published the day before the vote, arguing that federal Medicaid cuts, Texas’ refusal to expand Medicaid and a new state business tax break have shifted costs onto Harris County homeowners. He wrote that Harris Health reported $179 million in additional indigent care costs and that a new state law removed $8 billion from Harris County’s tax rolls.
“I understand what Harris County homeowners are going through, and I’ve worked hard to keep costs down and make life affordable,” Garcia wrote. “But if Trump and [Gov. Greg] Abbott hadn’t pushed these costs down to you, I could have been working on a tax rate reduction.”
This budget reflects what I’ve heard from Harris County residents: protecting critical services is nonnegotiable. From public safety and infrastructure to flood protection and health care, we are investing in the services our communities depend on. pic.twitter.com/idGDvOoke8
— Commissioner Lesley Briones (@HCP4__Briones) September 17, 2026
Briones defended the vote as necessary to protect basic county services. She also pointed to public safety, infrastructure, flood protection and health care in a separate social media post.
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“This budget reflects what I’ve heard from Harris County residents: protecting critical services is nonnegotiable,” she said on X. “From public safety and infrastructure to flood protection and health care, we are investing in the services our communities depend on.”
Critics say county spending is to blame
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However, critics argued the problem is county spending, not Austin or Washington.
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“It is not the time to do this to the folks that live in Harris County,” Ramsey told commissioners. “Our number one issue over the last six months has been affordability. This certainly is going to have a tremendous impact on the residents’ ability to afford their homes.”
The county is also adding hundreds of general-fund positions. ABC13 reported the county is relying on one-time revenue sources, including property sales, and that budget officials said layoffs could be considered next year.