Partisan spat stymies Harris County property tax relief

After a few political road bumps, Harris County is moving forward with a 2023 fiscal budget that features a 1 percent dip in the property tax rate.

Cities across Texas have been taking various approaches to the state’s property tax crisis. In Harris county, it’s taken a new political form, the Houston Chronicle reports.

On August 23, Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar accused the county of defunding law enforcement in its proposed 2023 budget — a violation of a recent state law that prohibits local governments from doing so without a public vote. However, county officials pointed out that the budget included an additional $100 million for the Sheriff’s Office, constables and District Attorney’s Office — so it was in fact Hegar’s threat of interference that was holding up funding from law enforcement.

The county challenged Hegar in court, further arguing that Hegar has no lawful authority to challenge a county’s budget before it has been enacted. During an emergency hearing on Tuesday, state attorney Will Thompson, representing Hegar and Governor Abbott, said that the comptroller actually hadn’t done anything to formally bind Harris County from adopting a budget.

But the fate of the $2.2 billion budget is still up in the air, as its approval could be hinges on the support of members of the Commissioners Court, which also met on Tuesday to propose an official property tax rate.

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In a 3-2 vote — split along party lines — the court settled on a rate of ​​57.5 cents per $100 of assessed value, representing a 1 percent decrease from the current rate of 58.1 cents per $100. In effect, for a standard home valued at $200,000, it would mean about a $10 decrease in the county portion of the tax bill.

Those in favor were the three Democrats who also voted to pursue legal action over the Hegar matter: County Judge Lina Hidalgo, Precinct 1 Commissioner Rodney Ellis and Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia. Those opposed were the two Republicans: Precinct 4 Commissioner Jack Cagle and Precinct 3 Commissioner Tom Ramsey.

On most controversial issues, the court typically falls on this 3-2 split, and with four commissioners needed for a quorum to set the tax rate, Cagle and Ramsey are in a unique position of power. Should the two Republicans skip the tax vote on Sept. 13, the remaining three Democrats would not be able to approve the new rate.

Harris County would be forced into using the budget based on 2021 revenue, effectively freezing county spending — which is what happened in 2019 when Cagle and Ramsey’s predecessor Steve Radack skipped the tax rate vote.

Garcia said the increased funding for law enforcement is an effort to bring his Republican colleagues on side for the vote.

“If we have no quorum, then it is a moot point to try and pass a strong public safety package,” he said.

In an alert sent to constituents Tuesday morning suggesting his continued opposition, Ramsey wrote, “I believe the budget we set should support this priority by fully funding requests made by our law enforcement officers. We have to send a message to criminals that Harris County is not the place to commit a crime.”

Though Cagle skipped the tax rate vote in 2019, he seems relatively more open to showing up next week.

“My every expectation is that something can be worked out that I can be there,” he said.

Only one of the two Republicans needs to show up for the commissioners to have a quorum.

— Maddy Sperling