Harris County is Proposing an 11.8% Spending Increase along with Higher Property Taxes.

Harris County is considering adopting a Fiscal Year 2027 budget¹ of nearly $3.1 billion. That is roughly $327 million more than the nearly $2.8 billion general-fund budget² the Court adopted last September, an 11.8% increase. The Office of Management and Budget presented the plan to the Commissioners Court at a special meeting on August 17.³

To pay for that spending, the proposal uses the highest county property tax rate allowed without an election. Harris County’s published truth-in-taxation worksheet⁴ calculates the no-new-revenue (NNR) rate (the rate that would bring in roughly the same property tax revenue as the previous year on the same properties) at $0.38667 per $100 of value and the voter-approval rate (the maximum rate that can be adopted without going to the voters for approval) at $0.41934. Last year’s adopted county rate⁵ was $0.38096. The proposed rate is 3.267 cents (8.45%) above the NNR rate and 3.838 cents (10.1%) above last year’s adopted rate.

No-new-revenue is the rate that would collect about the same property-tax revenue from properties taxed in both years. At that rate, the August 17 budget presentation shows general-fund revenue of $2.878 billion against $3.096 billion in spending, a $218 million shortfall.⁶ At the proposed rate, the general fund is presented as balanced,⁷ with a $16 million drawdown of Fiscal Year 2025 surplus that the budget book says will not be recorded as revenue. The extra property tax levy is how the spending increase is financed. Commissioner Tom Ramsey called the proposal “a spending budget,” built by working backward from the voter-approval rate.⁸

Or, another way of putting it: the county is looking to increase spending and grow government as much as possible, without triggering an election. And an 11.8% budget increase is a choice to spend first and tax second.

The solution is to fund core government functions. And cut the rest. 

On the county’s published homestead example,⁹ the average appraised value is $402,489, up from $394,375. That means the county’s portion of homeowner’s property tax bill would be $1,350 at the proposed rate, compared with $1,202 last year. That’s an increase of $148, or 12.3%.

The Court still has to vote on the proposed budget and rates. Dates already on the calendar include September 8 and a final vote on September 17. Harris County taxpayers can find upcoming meeting dates, agendas, and more HERE.¹⁰ 

Harris County is the largest county in the state with millions of residents. If the Commissioners Court adopts this plan, Texas families will pay more to the county so the county can spend more, and make government even bigger than it already is. 

But the Court can still adopt the no-new-revenue rate and cut the budget to match. Concerned taxpayers in Harris County should make their voices heard, and hold their elected officials accountable to their tax and spend policies.

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1. https://budget.harriscountytx.gov/doc/Budget/budgetbook/FY2027/FY27_Proposed_Budget_Volume_I_v2.pdf ↩︎
2. https://budget.harriscountytx.gov/doc/Budget/budgetbook/FY2026/FY26_Adopted_Budget_Volume_I_v1.pdf ↩︎
3. https://www.fox26houston.com/news/harris-county-weighs-3-1b-budget-commissioners-debate-cuts-property-taxes ↩︎
4. https://www.hctax.net/Property/JurDocs/Jur040_2026.pdf ↩︎
5. https://harriscountytx.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=14896830&GUID=BA1B156B-80F1-4A92-B4B9-EFADD336360E ↩︎
6. https://www.fox26houston.com/news/harris-county-leaders-debate-proposed-property-tax-increase-ahead-september-vote ↩︎
7. https://budget.harriscountytx.gov/doc/Budget/budgetbook/FY2027/FY27_Proposed_Budget_Volume_I_v2.pdf ↩︎
8. https://thetexan.news/issues/texas-taxes-spending/harris-county-proposed-3-1-billion-budget-proposal-will-require-property-tax-hike/article_35e78d4b-c485-494d-9a7d-0b24f57f7970.html ↩︎
9. https://budget.harriscountytx.gov/doc/Budget/budgetbook/FY2027/FY27_Proposed_Budget_Volume_I_v2.pdf ↩︎
10. https://harriscountytx.legistar.com/ ↩︎