Dominic Anthony Walsh/Houston Public Media
City Controller Chris Hollins provides a financial report to the city council on April 29, 2026.
Mayor John Whitmire’s $7.5 billion budget plan faced proposed amendments from Houston City Council members on Wednesday — a regular part of the annual budgetary process — along with support from labor groups and criticism from some community advocates.
Only some of the amendments were discussed. The potential changes, as well as the full budget, are slated for a final vote next week.
The budget contains significant reforms to the city’s finances, including a first-of-its-kind garbage-related fee as well as the diversion of about $100 million from the water utility toward the city’s $3 billion general fund, which supports most departments like police, fire and parks.
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The changes would essentially erase a projected general fund deficit of about $200 million, according to Whitmire’s finance department, while bringing Houston’s finances in line with other major cities in Texas.
Whitmire called the proposal “transformative,” and the majority of city council members signaled support for the plan over the past month.
City Controller Chris Hollins criticized the budget while also certifying the legality and availability of funds this week, allowing the plan to move forward.
Fee tied to solid waste services
Starting at $5 per month per customer, the solid waste-related fee could eventually ramp up to $25 million — which would be enough to cover the more than $100 million solid waste department, according to a cost-of-service study.
Council member Alejandra Salinas proposed offering public assistance to help offset the fee for low-income households, people with disabilities and seniors. Council member Mario Castillo also suggested increasing available funding for financial assistance related to the fee.
Jen Rice/Houston Public Media
Pictured are garbage bins in Houston.
The solid waste fee is regressive in nature. According to an analysis by Hollins’ office, the fee costs more than a small property tax increase — that would raise the same amount of revenue — for most households whose homes are worth less than $1 million. For those whose home values run upwards of $1 million, the fee costs less than a small property tax increase.
“It places a heavier burden on working families who are struggling to make ends meet, on retirees, and on seniors who are surviving on a fixed income,” Hollins said Wednesday.
The change would bring Houston in line with other major cities in Texas that have fees related to trash pickup, including Austin, Dallas and San Antonio.
Illegal dumping
Under another proposed amendment from Salinas, $3 million would be transferred from management consultant services toward illegal dumping mitigation.
“I would characterize (illegal dumping) as one of the most significant problems the city faces,” Salinas said. “There’s all sorts of public health implications, environmental implications — setting apart the smell and the blight and the sight of it. It’s just simply unacceptable that in 2026 any Houstonian has to deal with this problem, and the city of Houston needs to take the most proactive approach possible to combat it.”
Dominic Anthony Walsh/Houston Public Media
Houston City Council member Alejandra Salinas speaks to Mayor John Whitmire on April 21, 2026.
The initiative would ramp up enforcement, surveillance and heavy trash drop-off sites.
According to Salinas’ office, the amendment is supported by “over 100 community residents and organizations.”
Rain Eatmon, with the Acres Homes Community Advocacy Group, told Houston Public Media the city needs to take a more “proactive” approach. Illegal dumping is “definitely a hit to the morale in the community,” she said — though she added she’s concerned about the solid waste fee.
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“We can’t continue to just harp on fees on top of fees on top of fees and expect the solution to get better,” Eatmon said.
Salinas’ illegal dumping amendment is co-sponsored by council members Castillo, Martha Castex-Tatum, Tarsha Jackson and Julian Ramirez.
Whitmire’s budget receives support from labor groups, criticism from community advocates
The budget has faced criticism — including from a coalition of community advocates under the banner of “Houston People’s Budget Campaign.”
They’re advocating for a more equitable application of the proposed solid waste-related fee, and they’re criticizing the proposed diversion of about $100 million in revenue from the city’s water and sewer utility toward the general fund.
“Whitmire’s budget is a bad deal for the vast majority of Houstonians,” campaigner Alice Liu said Wednesday.
The public sector unions representing municipal workers, police officers and firefighters — all of whom are set to receive raises under recently approved contracts — released endorsements for Whitmire’s proposal over the past month.
“This budget takes long overdue first steps to putting the city on a sustainable financial footing while protecting the hard-working city employees who deliver essential services to this community,” said Hany Khalil, executive director of the Gulf Coast Area Labor Federation. “For future budget cycles, city council must ensure that the increased financial burden of funding city services is not borne disproportionately by working people least able to afford those additional costs.”