The Harris County Emergency Services District No. 9 board of commissioners are slated to discuss the proposed fiscal year 2026-27 budget during a Sept. 10 special meeting.
Harris County ESD 9 serves as a political subdivision and taxing entity that supports fire suppression and emergency medical service operations for Cy-Fair Fire Department.
Current situation
The board of commissioners proposed a property tax rate of $0.045 per $100 of valuation during the Aug. 27 regular meeting, as previously reported by Community Impact. General Counsel David Manley said the commissioners are able to lower the proposed rate prior to its Sept. 24 adoption, but are unable to raise it.
Assistant Chief of Administration Mike Clements said the district's FY 2026-27 operations budget is projected to see $109.6 million in revenue and $117.8 million in expenditures, resulting in a $8.1 million projected shortfall. Clements attributed the projected shortfall to new personnel for the two upcoming fire stations in the FY 2026-27 budget.
Clements said during the Aug. 27 meeting that he plans for demographers to join one of the two scheduled budget workshops to provide insight towards the district's demographic projections in relation to growth and budgeting decisions ahead of the planned Sept. 24 adoption.
In case you missed it
According to a tax rate notice, the district’s no-new-revenue tax rate sits at $0.038548 per $100 of valuation, which would generate the same amount of taxes as the previous fiscal year when comparing properties taxed in both years. Manley said these calculations do not consider new construction.
During the Aug. 27 meeting, Commissioner Jaime Martinez suggested lowering a proposed employee compensation increase to avoid raising the property tax rate above the no new revenue rate or using cash reserves to offset the projected shortfall. The district would still dip into its reserves with any tax rate they choose below the voter-approval rate, Commissioner Bevin Gordon said.
“We have to accept the fact that we are gonna be coming into those cash reserves,” Fire Chief Amy Ramon said. “We’ve been dinged for having cash reserves and we’ve been dinged for using cash reserves. ... It’s been a really double-edged sword for us."
Clements said the cash reserves have been built up over the years for the district’s planned growth, and the budgeted 4.2% employee compensation increase reflects a rolling five-year Social Security cost-of-living-adjustment average.
Before you go
The board of commissioners also plan to discuss the district’s insurance policies and renewals during the special meeting.
The Harris County ESD 9 board of commissioners is slated to meet Sept. 10 at 5:30 p.m. in the District Administration Building for a special meeting.
