CITY & COUNTY
News from Harris County
QUOTE OF NOTE “THE INPUT WE RECEIVE FROM THE COMMUNITY ON THIS BOND PROGRAM IS CRITICAL AS IT WILL HELP EACH PRECINCT IDENTIFY AND PRIORITIZE PROJECTS IF THE BOND PROPOSITIONS PASS.” MILTON RAHMAN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AND COUNTY ENGINEER FOR THE HARRIS COUNTY ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT LOCAL HIGHLIGHTS HARRIS COUNTY With a $1.2 billion bond on the Nov. 8 ballot, Harris County is hosting informational community meetings. Learn more at www.harriscounty2022bond.org. HARRIS COUNTY Commissioners approved a $20.16 million American Rescue Plan Act allocation Sept. 13 for court backlog reduction. This brings the county’s investment since late 2021 to $36.9 million. ESD 11 Harris County Emergency Services District No. 11 has begun work on its new 43-acre campus, including the main administrative building, 911 call center, billing center, and fleet maintenance and deployment facilities. Jersey Village City Council will meet at 7 p.m. Oct. 17 at 16327 Lakeview Drive, Jersey Village. 713-466-2100. www.jerseyvillagetx.com Harris County Commissioners Court will meet at 10 a.m. Oct. 11 at 1001 Preston St., Ste. 934, Houston. 713- 274-1111. www.harriscountytx.gov MEETINGS WE COVER
County cuts proposed budget, waits on tax rate vote
BY RACHEL CARLTON
the amended budget—which is $104 million smaller than the $2.24 billion budget proposed Aug. 23—to avert a government shutdown. Daniel Ramos, executive direc- tor of the Harris County Office of Management and Budget, said all departments would face cuts. “Across the board, our costs are
going up,” Ramos said. “In addition, each one of [the department’s] positions costs more than it did in short fiscal year [20]22.” The final deadline to vote to adopt tax rates is Oct. 28, Berry said. If com- missioners cannot reach a quorum, the county and HCFCD rates would drop to the no-new-revenue rates.
HARRIS COUNTY Commissioners Court voted 3-0 to adopt an amended fiscal year 2022-23 budget during its Sept. 13 meeting, but as of press time, it delayed a vote on the county’s tax rates until Sept. 27. As Precinct 3 Commissioner Tom Ramsey and Precinct 4 Commissioner Jack Cagle were absent, both com- missioners released email statements confirming they would not show to vote on the proposed overall tax rate of $0.57508 per $100 of assessed val- ue—a 1% decrease from the previous year’s rate of $0.58135. Without a four-member quorum, the court could not legally vote to adopt a set of tax rates. Instead, Pre- cinct 1 Commissioner Rodney Ellis, Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia and Judge Lina Hidalgo voted 3-0 to adopt the annualized version of the short fiscal year 2022 budget for the county and the Harris County Flood Control District. County Administrator David Berry said he recommended the court adopt
HARRIS COUNTY BUDGET CUTS Harris County Commissioners Court adopted the short fiscal year 2022 annualized budget for FY 2023 on Sept. 13.
Short FY 2022 adopted budget (annualized) Difference from proposed FY 2023 budget
County judge
Commissioner Precinct 3 Economic Equity and Opportunity Dept. Justice Administration Dept.
$112.6M Overall difference between proposed FY 2023 budget and adopted FY 2022 budget annualized
Engineering
Public health Community Services Dept. Library
Constable Precinct 4
Constable Precinct 5
Elections Administration Office
District attorney
$0M $10M
$50M
$100M
$150M
SOURCE: HARRIS COUNTY OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET/COMMUNITY IMPACT
Harris County commissioners approve $750M flood mitigation grant
BY RACHEL CARLTON
infrastructure as well as drainage,” she said. The county will have around 10 years to expend the funds. About $600 million will be available for projects with the rest going to administration, IT and general proj- ect delivery, Holloway said. GLO’s guidelines dictate each project must have a minimum budget of $1 million, and 51% of the beneficiaries must be low to moderate income. With the CDBG grant funds, the county can chip away at the $1.4 billion gap in funding for the 2018 flood bond program projects. Around $400 million is left in need, said Daniel Ramos, executive director of the budget office.
HARRIS COUNTY Commissioners approved an agree- ment for a $750 million grant from the Texas General Land Office for flood mitigation at a special meeting Aug. 31. Adrienne Holloway, executive director of the Harris County Community Services Department, said the $750 million in Community Development Block Grant Mitiga- tion funds is part of an amendment to the GLO’s plan to invest in infrastructure improvement in areas damaged by Hurricane Harvey. “It really is a drop in the bucket in some of the improve- ments that we need to have made across the county and
FOR AN ACCOUNT THAT’S
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CY-FAIR EDITION • OCTOBER 2022
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