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 sounding the alarm that they need more funding in order to adequately serve the public and keep pace with demand.
As a recap of day one of budget hearings: several departments, including OMB and the Office of County Administration (OCA), echoed the same concern: additional budget cuts would adversely affect project delivery timelines, employee retention, workforce sustainability, support for the 11 newly established district courts, IFS turnaround times, and other essential county services.
“It has been very challenging this fiscal year to address Court directives and longer-standing projects. We have to pull staff from other groups and extend timelines for less sensitive projects so we can deliver projects with quicker deadlines…They work extra hard, but at some point, retention and burnout level is a risk,” said County Administrator Erica Lee Carter during the OCA budget hearing on Monday. OCA had to eliminate 11 positions during the FY26 budget cycle.
“Changes to contract patrol and law enforcement budgeting are going to have a huge impact on how we do business for the foreseeable future,” said OMB Director Daniel Ramos during the OMB budget hearing on Monday. “...We’re really going to have to decide what functions we are going to stop doing, what’s least impactful to our residents and what we are going to really focus on maintaining.”
“The budget is about public impact. It doesn’t just impact our employees, but the residents of Harris County and those who depend on timely, fair, and accessible justice. In a span of only three years, we will have added 11 more District Courts, which is incredible and much needed. However, we haven’t increased the resources to help support the judiciary, like IT support or staffing ratios. We’ve been working a lot more with a lot less to continue providing equal access to justice for all,” said Gloria Lopez, Judge for the 308th Family Court during Monday’s budget hearing.
“We did ask for $350,000 for FY27 which was not approved. This will affect our turnaround times and quality of reports that we provide to constituents of Harris County...These effects could cascade down to increase jail times, increase burden on the court system. Families will wait even longer on examination reports and toxicology results. We are already very lean, and any major offset will be felt greatly across the county,” said Pramod Gumpeni, the Chief Medical Examiner at the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences, during the IFS budget hearing Monday.
“Harris County Courts handle thousands of cases each year. We are right at the edge of being able to handle capacity coming in every day, and that’s without a big event. It should be the concern of everyone in Harris County that we invest in resources to make [the courts] a more fortified operation. The justice system impacts every member of our community, even those who never set foot inside of a courtroom. What is decided matters beyond these walls,” said Court Manager Ed Wells during the County Courts budget hearing Monday. Wells asked for a staff salary increase to combat the hiring crisis in the County Courts.
Budget hearings continue today through Thursday beginning at 10 a.m. The hearings are available to stream here on the Commissioners Court website.
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