Expanded priorities, years of increased spending put Harris County budget on 'razor's edge'

Earlier this month, Harris County budget director Daniel Ramos issued a stern warning to Commissioners Court: Tough financial decisions are ahead and officials will need to drill down on priorities. “I can tell you this is my 11th budget cycle and this is the closest I’ve ever seen a jurisdiction be to their budget,” he told the court. “So, we really are on this razor’s edge.” Just four years ago, the county ended its fiscal year with more than $150 million in surplus funds. Last year, the county ended with $6.4 million, and that number is projected to go down by more than $1 million this year. Had it not been for some federal grants and one-time lawsuit settlements, such as the JUUL vaping litigation that saw the county awarded $20 million, Harris County would have ended its last fiscal year in the red and projected to be in a deficit this year.

Officials have said this not only serves as a harbinger for what is to come, but also demonstrates how Harris County has evolved in recent years. Throughout her campaign for county judge in 2018, Democratic political novice Lina Hidalgo talked about the need for criminal justice reform and public transportation, envisioning a significant expansion beyond Harris County’s traditional role in funding flood control, roads and parks. Democrats swamped local ballots that year, helping Hidalgo defeat popular 11-year Republican incumbent Ed Emmett to become Harris County judge. Adrian Garcia also defeated Precinct 2 Commissioner Jack Morman, giving Democrats a majority on Commissioners Court for the first time in decades. Four years later, the Democrats added a fourth member, giving them a supermajority. Instead of focusing largely on infrastructure as it traditionally had, the new Commissioners Court vastly expanded social service programs aimed at strengthening the safety net for the unincorporated areas of the county. That expansion of services was made easier during the coronavirus pandemic when the county was awarded $1.8 billion in federal aid.