Primary Department: County Judge
Primary Department Head/Elected Official: Lina Hidalgo
Secondary Department: N/A
Secondary Department Head/Elected Official: N/A
Regular or Supplemental RCA: Regular RCA
Type of Request: Discussion Item
Project ID (if applicable): N/A
Vendor/Entity Legal Name (if applicable): N/A
MWBE Contracted Goal (if applicable): N/A
MWBE Current Participation (if applicable): N/A
Justification for 0% MWBE Participation Goal: N/A - Goal not applicable to request
Grant Indirect Costs Rate (if applicable): N/A
Justification for 0% Grant Indirect Costs Rate (if applicable): N/A - Not a grant item
Request Summary (Agenda Caption):
title
Request for discussion and possible action for a proposed 2025 tax rate for Harris County. Potential action may include directing relevant departments to post notices of a hearing for a tax rate adoption that is above the Voter Approval Rate.
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Background and Discussion:
Commissioners Court normally proposes tax rates for all entities it sets the tax rate for at the same time. To propose any 2025 tax rates above the Voter Approval Rate (VAR), the discussion of tax rates must be expedited to meet statutory timelines for proposing tax rates, holding a public hearing, adopting tax rates, and calling a Voter Approval Tax Rate Election (VATRE) for the purpose of maintaining a portion of critical Harris County early childhood programming. Should voters not approve an adopted tax rate at the election, the 2025 tax rate would revert to the VAR. Per the Texas Tax Code, any VATRE must be held on the November uniform election date, which is November 4 this year.
Should Commissioners Court desire to propose a tax rate above the VAR, Court would propose tax rates at the August 7 meeting and a Public Hearing should be properly called and noticed so that it can be held at the August 14, 2025 meeting of Commissioners Court, after which the Court can adopt the proposed tax rates and call for a VATRE.
Expected Impact:
The decision to hold a Public Hearing on 2025 tax rates on August 14, 2025 will allow Commissioners Court the opportunity to vote on whether to adopt a tax rate above the VAR for the purpose of maintaining a portion of critical Harris County early childhood programming and allow Harris County voters to affirm or deny that rate at an election. For Harris County in particular, additional revenue from a tax rate above the VAR would support early childhood programming.
Alternative Options:
If the Court does not decide to propose a tax rate above the Voter Approval Rate, there is no need to call a tax rate election.
County Strategic Plan Goal: 3. Make our economy more inclusive.
County Strategic Plan Objective: K: Provide workers with training and other supports (e.g. child care) to participate fully in the local economy.
Justice/Safety Initiative (Goal 1): N/A
Infrastructure Initiative (Goal 2): N/A
Economy Initiative (Goal 3): K1: Advance child care quality and accessibility through workforce development programming and child care slots.
Health Initiative (Goal 4): N/A
Climate/Resilience Initiative (Goal 5): N/A
Housing Initiative (Goal 6): N/A
Additional notes related to the Strategic Plan: N/A
Prior Court Action (if any): N/A
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Precinct(s): Countywide
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Anticipated Court Date: 8/7/2025
Anticipated Implementation Date (if different from Court date): N/A
Emergency/Disaster Recovery Note: Not an emergency, disaster, or ARPA related item
Contact(s) name, title, department: Angelica Luna, Chief of Staff, County Judge’s Office
Attachments (if applicable): Proposal