Andrew Schneider/Houston Public Media
Houston Mayor John Whitmire, second from left, presides over the FY 2027 budget vote. Council Member Amy Peck sits at the far right.
Houston City Council approved Mayor John Whitmire’s proposed $7.5 billion budget for the next fiscal year, with a vote of 15 to 1.
Whitmire acknowledged the budget wasn’t perfect, but he called it an important step toward putting the city on a sound financial footing.
“I’m just as confident today as I was a month ago when we rolled it out,” Whitmire told council members as they prepared to vote on the budget. “I want you to hold me, and I know you will, to the commitments that have been made.”
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The budget aimed to close a deficit of more than $200 million without raising property taxes. Its sole new source of revenue is a monthly administrative fee of $5 per residential unit customer, designed to support solid waste services. That new fee will take effect July 1 and be included with residents’ water bills.
A proposed amendment aimed at offsetting the cost of the new fee for low-income residents and seniors was not immediately adopted, instead being referred to a committee for further consideration. Whitmire said the amendment, as originally presented, constituted an “illegal use of public funds,” but he held out hope that some offset would be adopted — and potentially would be extended to veterans.
The defeat of that amendment triggered a silent protest by more than a dozen members of the public, many of them identified by their T-shirts as members of the Northeast Action Collective, a community group aimed at improving environmental conditions and quality of life issues in neglected neighborhoods.
The protestors held up signs and waved red cards — the latter a measure with added symbolism ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, with Houston serving as a host city.
Andrew Schneider/Houston Public Media
Demonstrators raise red cards in opposition to cuts included in the City of Houston’s FY 2027 budget.
Council Member and Vice Mayor-Pro-Tem Amy Peck announced she would vote for the budget, but that her vote came with reservations, particularly regarding the administrative fee.
“If residents are asked to pay more, they deserve better service in return,” Peck said. “If I do not see a measurable, meaningful improvement in the performance of the new Solid Waste Division, I will personally author a Prop A ordinance to repeal this fee.”
Another significant amendment to the budget took the form of a $3 million allocation to address illegal dumping. That included the purchasing of closed-circuit TV cameras for surveillance of chronic dump sites as a means of helping Houston police to track down and arrest violators.
“We all know illegal dumping is a serious public health, drainage, safety and quality of life issue, and this amendment puts dedicated resources behind a solution,” said Council Member Alejandra Salinas, as she proposed the amendment.
The budget ultimately passed on a vote of 15 to 1. As the final vote was recorded, the demonstrators stood up and began chanting until they were escorted from the council chamber by police. They continued demonstrating in the hall outside for several minutes afterwards, shouting so loudly that the council halted its deliberations several times.
The sole vote in opposition to the budget came from Council Member Edward Pollard, who had served as vice chair of the city’s Budget and Fiscal Affairs Committee under the late former mayor Sylvester Turner.
“Over the last two fiscal years, our city has faced the largest budget deficits in the city’s history. When asked to the mayor after the first budget on how we are going to correct the overspending problem, his response was, ‘Trust me.’ Some of you all did, and he followed that up with overspending on this year’s budget by over $180 million,” Pollard said, calling the budget, “fiscally irresponsible, and it is not sustainable.”
Andrew Schneider/Houston Public Media
Houston City Council Member District J Edward Pollard, speaking in opposition to the city’s FY 2027 budget.
City Controller Chris Hollins, who had certified the budget as required before it could be passed, also had harsh words.
“This budget deserves an ‘F’ for transparency and accountability,” Hollins said in a statement issued shortly after the budget’s passage. “It kicks tough decisions down the road and puts political convenience over sound financial planning. It’s disappointing that Council approved a budget that repeats deficit spending, pushes the City closer to minimum reserve thresholds, and shifts more costs onto working families.”