Judge Hidalgo calls on Commissioners Court to delay $100M law enforcement raises and instead determine whether that money can be used as a solution to reduce the $410 million flood bond deficit
View the full letter here.
At the September 19th Commissioners Court, Harris County Flood Control District Director Tina Petersen told Commissioners Court that the county was $410M short of being able to deliver all of the projects originally promised in the 2018 flood bond. Until the county resolves that shortfall, 27 promised flood bond projects are stopped.
Throughout the Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) budget planning process, the majority of Commissioners Court repeatedly approved new financial commitments, including pay raises, that created a massive deficit of $220 million in the Harris County budget. This is despite the fact that major obligations like the flood bond remain short on funding. Over and over again, the Office of Management & Budget identified new solutions, mostly service cuts, to counterbalance those financial commitments and close that deficit.
“Before creating a $220 million deficit and making the requisite cuts in order to fund it, the Harris County Commissioners Court has a responsibility to address the $410 million deficit in the flood bond. Residents, understandably, have called for more transparency and I believe we owe that to them. I’m calling for a Hail Mary and asking Commissioners to delay the $100 million pay raises by taking that to the voters next year, and instead use that $100 million to create a special fund that would be used to re-start promised flood control projects,” said Judge Lina Hidalgo.
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