Coverage of Harris County government: Commissioners Court agendas and votes, the county budget and property tax rate, the Flood Control District, county contracts and audits, and the countywide offices that spend the money. We link the primary document on every claim so you can check us.
The county clerk’s billboard campaign and the Harris Votes app arrive days before the October 5 registration deadline, with no published price on either.
The General Land Office extended all three Harris County Harvey grant deadlines by a year. None of the three outlets that covered it published how much of the money is spent.
Four years after voters approved $1.2 billion, about 5 percent of the road category is encumbered and no bonds have been issued. The county publishes three totals and no project list.
The sheriff’s office says the request would search more than 400,000 emails. The meeting the county judge says will answer the same questions has no entry on the posted calendar.
The August 6 Commissioners Court record shows four motions setting a $305,000 salary for 14 elected offices, and approval of agreements releasing claims worth $408,390.
Humble’s adopted rate of $0.245682 is 4.84 percent below last year and $0.005661 above its voter-approval rate. It equals the de minimis ceiling exactly. The median homestead bill rises $4.12.
Nine days before the October 5 deadline, every published figure came from a county that stopped to count. No state agency has published a statewide total.
One story, two homeowner figures for a $400,000 home. The total implies a taxable value near $320,000. The increase implies no exemption at all.
Harris County Engineering identified 200 drainage project areas in unincorporated Harris County. At $1 million to $20 million each, that is $200 million to $4 billion, and none of it is funded.
Harris County has 200 drainage projects on a map and no money behind any of them Read More »
Council approved a $1.7 million TIRZ budget September 4 and extended the county’s Uptown pledge to 2040. The $1.7 million led. The 2040 date did not.
Seven counties confirmed more than 178,000 records DPS never forwarded. Sen. Paul Bettencourt faults the Secretary of State. Harris County’s figure is not in any readable source.
Harris County ESD 9 adopted a 4.5 cent rate Thursday, raising $3.9 million above no-new-revenue. The budget approved the same night carries a $3.89 million shortfall.