Houston officials battle for portion of Harris County toll road profits

HOUSTON - Houston-area toll roads are often referred to as the "cash cow" of Harris County government, generating nearly $1 billion per year in revenue, nearly a third of it "surplus" - another term for "pure profit".

But instead of paying down the debt or drastically reducing the tolls drivers pay each of four County Commissioners gets an annual cut, to spend on the mobility projects of their choosing.

Enter Houston Mayor John Whitmire and others making a solid case for a slice of the "profit pie".

What they're saying:

"60% of the toll road miles are in the City of Houston. Over 60% of the revenue is generated inside the City of Houston. Last year, they took in $850 million in tolls most of those people coming into Houston to work. We get 700,000 people from the suburbs every day to Houston that we have to protect and serve," said Whitmire.

With the toll road traffic, comes the toll road mishaps, many of which demand service from Houston's firefighters of Houston's police.

At the State Capitol, Houston Senator Paul Bettencourt is seeking to level the financial scales. His legislation, SB-2722, would carve out a healthy chunk of toll road cash exclusively for the city.

Both Houston's Fire Chief and Police Chief traveled to Austin to make the case before the Senate Transportation Committee.

"Between 2022 and 2024, there were over 6,500 HPD and HFD responses on the toll road," said Noe Diaz, Houston Police Chief.

"364 responses were made on just one segment of the beltway last year, which required 593 apparatuses," said Thomas Munoz, Houston Fire Chief.

Not so fast, says Councilmember Abbie Kamin, who urged others around the "deficit challenged" horseshoe - to keep the City's hands out of the County's Toll road cookie jar.

"When it comes to what we are trying to do as a City trying to take these dollars from the County, I think it deserves a lot more scrutiny," said Kamin, who says she fears "straining relations".

Harris County Toll Authority Director Robert Trevino told lawmakers contract Harris County Constables and other HCRTA staff handle more than 90% of incidents and interactions on tollways.