Harris Co. Judge: Comptroller needs to 'go back to accounting class' following 'defunding the police' finding

HARRIS COUNTY, Texas - Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar announced on Friday afternoon in a statement that Harris County Commissioners did, in fact, defund the police. 

According to a statement, Hegar's office received a request from Gov. Greg Abbott's Criminal Justice Division to investigate a complaint from Constable Ted Heap of Harris County Constable Office Precinct 5. 

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Constables claim Harris County defunded more than $4 million from their agencies

The complaint alleged that "The Harris County 2023 fiscal year adopted budget reduced the resources available to Precinct 5 by $2,367,444 compared to the previous year's annualized budget." 

Hegar said after careful review the complaint does provide evidence of reduction of funding for a law enforcement agency when comparing the adopted budget for the current fiscal year to the adopted budget for the preceding fiscal year. 

MORE: Texas comptroller rules Harris County defunded constables; calls for reversal or election

The complaint alleged that the Harris County fiscal year 2023 budget reduces the overall funding for Precinct 5 when compared to the Harris County short fiscal year (SFY) 2022 budget, once annualized on a month-to-month basis. 

Hegar said, "We confirmed that the annualized SFY 2022 adopted budget for Precinct 5 was $48,949,795, as compared to $46,582,350 for the fiscal year 2023 adopted budget. Undoubtedly, Harris County will once again use a convoluted approach with two different multipliers and exclude two pay periods to argue otherwise, yet the math is clear and straightforward. The funding shortfall is $2,367,444.86.

Hegar added, "As you may recall, the issue was at the center of a debate concerning the Harris County budget in the fall of 2022, when a determined coalition of citizens, elected officials and members of the law enforcement community stood firm and forced Harris County to adopt a "no-new-revenue" property tax rate for fiscal year 2023. These efforts are saving property taxpayers in Harris County nearly a quarter of a billion dollars."

"The root cause of that debate, however, remains unresolved. Judge Lina Hidalgo and the Harris County Commissioners Court are defunding the police," Hegar said.  

Hegar said that as a result of his investigation, "Harris County may not adopt an ad valorem tax rate that exceeds the county's no-new-revenue tax rate until the earliest of the following: my office issues a written determination; the county has resolved the funding reduction; or the funding reduction has been approved in an election."

Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis, in a statement, condemned Hegar's statement saying, 

"The state of Texas’ political propaganda machine is at it again—distorting Harris County’s record on law enforcement for their own political gain even if it costs Harris County residents the safety and services they expect and deserve. While the obstructionists in Austin play political games, Harris County leaders are working every day to make communities safer. We’ve rolled up our sleeves to create nationally recognized programs like our gun buyback program that has pulled thousands of guns off the street, the Harris County Holistic Assistance Response Team, and our violence interruption program that complement traditional law enforcement and free up resources for officers to focus on serious, violent crime.  While some lawmakers in Austin think they can manipulate folks in Harris County, people here on the ground know that we are turning the tide on a national crime wave with robust investments in public safety."

Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo released a statement late Friday night saying,

"Comptroller Hegar and his allies seem to be struggling with basic accounting. Per Harris County's 26 pay period accounting, funding for the Precinct 5 Constable's Office increased by almost two million dollars (from $46.6M to $48.5M) between the two budgets in question. I look forward to working with County Attorney Menefee on fighting this in court. In the meantime, Comptroller Hegar needs to go back to accounting class."

Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee said on Twitter, 

"We’ve seen this show before—Comptroller Hegar misconstruing the law and playing political games to make headlines. His math was wrong then and it’s wrong now."