Harris County Considers $327 Million 2027 Budget Increase
8/17/2026 – Daniel Ramos, Executive Director of Harris County’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB), presented a detailed general fund budget for Fiscal Year 2027 this morning to a special meeting of Harris County Commissioners Court. The budget contained an estimated $327 million/12% increase over the 2026 budget. That increase could raise the average homeowner’s Harris County property tax bill next year to approximately $1,350. But if your house is worth more, that number could go far higher.
Here is Ramos’ “overview” presentation. And here is a 112-page explanation posted to the (OMB) website.
The county has two ways to raise property taxes: through your home’s valuation and the tax rate applied to it. But in 2026, total valuations throughout the county rose by only 0.8%. That means in order to pay for 12% increased costs, the tax rates themselves must increase.
Programs Vs. Priorities
Finalizing a budget requires debating priorities. And the presentation Ramos made today mapped proposed expenses to the priorities adopted earlier by the county. The 112-page explanation contains illuminating information about the county’s growth and demographics that drive the proposed increase.
Current Level of Service and Spending
One of the key terms used in the budget is “CLS/S.” It stands for Current Level of Service and Spending. Growth in law enforcement pay parity (with City of Houston), employee health care and benefits, CLS/S requests by departments, pay equity and other changes account for most of the projected $327 increase.
The first three categories alone account for more than two-thirds of the total increase. CLS/S includes the costs of maintaining the same level of service year over year. For instance, it includes $61 million of such things as facility maintenance, fleet operations, utilities, cost-of-living adjustments, changes in state law, and unplanned budget adjustments.
The $61 million also includes $14 million for ARPA programs which would otherwise go away at the end of this year when ARPA funding expires. So those aren’t purely inflationary costs.
The 12% increase is not principally a story about Harris County launching a huge collection of new programs. Approximately half is employee compensation and healthcare.
And using OMB’s own accounting framework, approximately $287 million of the $327 million year-over-year increase was already embedded in the cost of maintaining existing services and spending commitments. That’s 88% not classified as expansion of services.
Existing recurring commitments are growing faster than sustainable recurring revenue.
And that points to a recurring, structural problem.
It’s important to distinguish between “unavoidable” versus “already committed.” CLS/S does not mean unavoidable. It means current level of service and spending. Some items — healthcare inflation or statutory mandates — may be difficult to avoid.
Other items — pay-parity commitments, continuing ARPA programs, staffing levels, compensation policies — are the consequences of earlier policy decisions that Commissioners Court could theoretically change.
It’s also important to realize that the General Fund numbers cited above do NOT cover Flood Control, Port of Houston, or Public Health which have their own budgets (to be discussed at a later date).
Impact on Typical Homeowner’s Property Tax Bill
At the proposed maximum rate increase allowable without an election – and taking into account homestead exemptions and new construction growth – the average residential homestead would pay $1,350 in County property taxes vs. $1,202 last year, a 12.3% increase. See Page 40 of budget discussion.
The discussion of strategic objectives and their budget impact begins on Page 67 of the PDF. The budget is VERY complex and difficult to follow. However, several appendices may help.
- Proposed department budgets on page 99
- Glossary of terms on page 103
- Which funds pay which departments on page 109
- Salary increases of elected officials on page 111
- Proposed benefit rates, also on 111
All pages refer to the PDF numbering system, not the numbers listed at the bottom of pages. That makes it easier to fast-forward within the document.
Make Your Feelings Known
Commissioners will vote on the final 2027 budget on September 8, 2026. Unfortunately, that’s before the November elections. So, if you’d like to limit that 12% increase in your property taxes, the time to start mailing, phoning and protesting is now.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 9/17/2026
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