Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo comments on the county deficits and potential cuts to the budget during a news briefing in Houston, Thursday, Aug. 14, 2025.
Kirk Sides/Houston Chronicle
Harris County commissioners declined to support a tax hike proposed by County Judge Lina Hidalgo to fund early childcare programs Thursday.
The item was identical to a proposal Hidalgo made last year that failed after she brought dozens of children to court in a bid to pressure commissioners to support the move. Hidalgo on Thursday touted the program’s success, but commissioners said they couldn’t support a tax increase amid a climate of general fiscal uncertainty. Her motion did not receive a second and thus did not reach a vote.
“All people want to talk about now is affordability,” said Republican Commissioner Tom Ramsey. “For us to be considering a significant tax increase this year would be not listening to the folks that are out there.”
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Ramsey said even without Hidalgo’s proposed tax increase, the county will likely raise its rates more this year than any other in recent history.
EXCLUSIVE: Hidalgo staffer says he was ‘blindsided’ by the use of children in chaotic meeting
If approved, Hidalgo’s proposed increase would have gone before voters in November. The judge leaned into that framing, saying that she was not unilaterally proposing an increase but was instead suggesting the county simply ask voters if they would support it.
“Let us not fear our own constituents,” she said. “Let us live with the verdict of our constituents.”
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The program provides free daycare and preschool to eligible low-income families, and provides professional development and training to childcare providers. As many as 1,000 children can receive free childcare through the program, which currently is funded through December using federal grant dollars.
But the grant money — allocated in response to the COVID-19 pandemic — was a one-time funding source that commissioners knew would expire. The county’s childcare initiative was intended to function as a “pilot” program that could lay the foundation for a future permanent investment. Hidalgo’s proposal would have extended the program using local tax dollars.
But Commissioner Rodney Ellis, Hidalgo’s closest ally on the court, said skyrocketing childcare prices are an issue that should be addressed by the state or federal governments.
“When we had the opportunity to help poor people out of generational poverty, we did it,” Ellis said. “And for that, I’m very proud.”
‘We’re not letting the voters decide’
Even if voters had supported a tax hike, Hidalgo said, the court’s refusal to support her proposal last year would have forced the program to pause operations at the end of this year. The county would have needed roughly a year to generate enough revenue to restart the program in 2028, she said.
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More than 90,000 children in Harris County are on a waitlist for subsidized childcare, according to a fact sheet published by the Texas Workforce Commission.
The county childcare program functions similarly to others offered through the state and federal governments, but comes with fewer restrictions and covers the entire cost of childcare as opposed to just a portion. But the program also serves far fewer children, and at a higher cost per child than similar services provided through the state or Head Start, according to a University of Houston report.
UH researchers estimated the cost per child of the county program at roughly $18,750 compared to $10,000 per child through its state-run counterpart, which requires families to pay a small daily fee.
Head Start, its federal counterpart, spent roughly $14,000 per child while also providing free daycare and preschool, according to the report.
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“I’m very, very sorry that we’re not letting the voters decide if they’d like to see more affordable childcare,” Hidalgo said.