Houston ISD, Harris County seeking additional revenue from taxpayers in November
'Demand' of money from Houston ISD bond proposal
Local government "requesting" and "demanding" more of Houstonians money from Houston ISD's jumbo bond proposal to Harris County's plan to substantially raise property taxes. FOX 26 Political reporter Greg Groogan shares what to expect before it happens.
HARRIS COUNTY, Texas - Multiple levels of local government are seeking additional revenue from hard-pressed Houston-area taxpayers, a development that's alarmed residents on fixed incomes and still grappling with inflation.
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo and Democratic allies on Commissioners Court appear poised to exploit a little known legislative loophole to raise property taxes 8% next year without asking voters for permission.
SUGGESTED: Harris County commissioners propose tax-hike for flood control maintenance
Lawmakers in Austin granted an exemption on non-voter approved tax hikes above 3.5% to counties which have experienced a recent disaster like Hurricane Beryl. Precinct 3 Commissioner Tom Ramsey tells FOX 26 that the Democratic super majority on Commissioners Court has already decided to take full advantage and spend the windfall from local taxpayers mostly on social programs.
"They want to go through with an 8% increase in your taxes, which is $268 million more dollars than we had this year. Let me put that another way. We were able to fund all of our programs this year, take care of all of our business this year, do everything we need to do this year, but we need another $268 million? We have a spending problem in Harris County, not a revenue problem in Harris County," said Ramsey.
While voters will get no say on the Harris County hike, they will have veto power over Houston ISD's $4.4 billion bond proposal, which if approved, would be the biggest in Texas history.
By nearly all accounts, HISD's proposal is in "major trouble," if not "dead in the water" with just 77 days until voters decide.
FOX 26 spoke with businessman and columnist Bill King, who chaired HISD'S last successful bond campaign in 2012.
King says the amount of money HISD is seeking seems exorbitant given the fact enrollment has dropped from 210,000 in 2019 to around 171,000 today.
More importantly, King says HISD's state appointed superintendent Mike Miles has infuriated nearly every special interest group critical to winning a bond election, including the teachers union, local politicians, LULAC, and the NAACP, in addition to thousands of parents and students.
"Typically, a bond election has a big core of supporters with the teachers, the parents, PTO people, those kind of folks. And this time, all those people are upset with the district and so it seems it's going to be difficult to persuade those people when they don't agree with the direction the district is going. Without that base, you have no chance of passing a bond," said King.
While HISD has assured voters that it won't have to raise taxes, the measure remains in grave jeopardy of failure.
Also on the ballot for voters in November is a proposed rate hike for the Harris County Flood Control District, which would cost the average homeowner an extra $140 to better fund maintenance.