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Harris County, TX, July 16, 2026, During Harris County’s third day of budget hearings for Fiscal Year 2027 (FY27) on Wednesday, multiple Harris County department heads asked for more funding to protect critical programs and services that are delivering important results for Harris County residents and moving the community forward. 

Harris County is currently facing a $129 million deficit for FY27. The Harris County Office of Management & Budget (OMB) asked each department to provide 8% worth of options for cuts to close the deficit. While final budget decisions won’t be made until September, departments are already calling for more funding in order to best serve the community’s needs.

Sheriff Ed Gonzalez highlighted the need for more investment in reentry support: “I always ask, ‘How do you want us to return your neighbors back to you?’ Because even if they go to the prison system, they’re always going to come out and we should do what we can to mitigate future impacts. We’re seeing tremendous impacts with reentry programs, especially at places like the Women’s Empowerment Center. When we do more intense case management, we see great results,” said Sheriff Ed Gonzalez during budget hearings Wednesday.

Kerry McCracken, the Executive Director of the Children’s Assessment Center, highlighted the difficulties that last year’s hiring freeze has had on their services: “Thankfully, our client-serving folks were exempt from the hiring freeze and we appreciate that. But I want you to consider that the healing process starts ideally the second the family comes through the door. If they get to that front desk and they have to wait in line, their anxiety goes up. I would love for all of our positions to be exempt. If families aren’t processed quickly, this is a problem. Our client satisfaction metrics have gone down due to the intake process,” said McCracken during the Children’s Assessment Center budget hearing Wednesday.

Library Director Edward Melton spoke about how proposed budget cuts would put the Harris County Public Libraries at risk of losing accreditation status, and therefore state funding for innovative programs including broadband access: “Library systems across the U.S. look to us, especially in Texas. We are bold, innovative, and doing great work, and I wouldn’t want losing accreditation to stop us from the work that we’re doing,” said Melton during the Public Library budget hearing on Wednesday.

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