Harris County commissioners are expected to discuss the budget and tax rate options for the upcoming fiscal year at an Aug. 17 special meeting, as the county faces a potential $178 million shortfall.<\/p>\n
In a nutshell<\/strong><\/p>\n The county\u2019s Office of Management and Budget will present its proposed budgets and tax rates for the court to discuss and potentially take action on. The proposal will also cover:<\/p>\n Commissioners are facing one of the steepest shortfalls in recent history, according to previous Community Impact reporting<\/a>, though the projected shortfall has shrunk from a May estimate<\/a> of up to $257 million to $178 million. To compensate for the shortfall, residents could face tax rate increases.<\/p>\n If commissioners decide to increase the tax rate more than 3.5%, according to the state comptroller website<\/a>, voters will see the proposed rates on their November ballots.<\/p>\n The court will adopt its new budget mid-September, before the start of the fiscal year Oct. 1.<\/p>\n In other news<\/strong><\/p>\n The court may move to form a grievance committee for elected officials\u2019 salaries, as it did last year after denying requests<\/a> from district court judges and the county\u2019s eight elected constables for raises.<\/p>\n Those requests were approved during the Aug. 6 Commissioners Court, with the constables, district attorney, county attorney, district clerk, county clerk and tax assessor-collector now set to earn $305,000 annually.<\/p>\n The court is expected to also discuss executive compensation for elected officials in a session closed to the public.<\/p>\n Also of note<\/strong><\/p>\n The District Attorney\u2019s office is seeking approval from commissioners to apply for a $1.5 million grant to support its work in domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, stalking and safeguarding victims, according to agenda documents.<\/p>\n The grant would come from the U.S. Department of Justice as part of its Improve the Criminal Justice Response Program, which funds \u201cstate, local, and tribal governments, courts and victim service providers,\u201d per its website<\/a>.<\/p>\n If approved, the grant will not require a matching investment from the county.<\/p>\n\n