Harris County commissioners passed a motion May 22 that paves the way for increasing county law enforcement pay. This is leading up to the fiscal year 2025-26 budget process, which begins in October—a decision with a $140 million county price tag that will require identifying necessary savings to provide for raises.
“Our county cannot fall behind in providing public safety to our growing population,” Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia said in a May 22 news release. “This has to be our top priority, and we are absolutely committed to getting officer pay to a competitive rate.”
The first motion to approve pay raises passed 3-2 with Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo and Precinct 1 Commissioner Rodney Ellis voting in dissent. Hidalgo brought up the county’s fiscal year 2024-25 second quarter budget projections as one factor into her vote.
“I think this is irresponsible to make a decision without knowing what it takes to get there,” Hidalgo said. “That’s the reason the county’s at a $130 million deficit, even without the pay, because some members of this court continue to make decisions that I feel are not responsible, like blindly approving something without knowing where the money is going to come from.”
The cost
The pay raises for members of the Harris County Sheriff and Constable’s office is projected to cost the county $140 million for the first year, with a plan to meet future pay raises, according to a news release. The move comes as Houston City Council approved an $832 million police union contract May 21 that will raise Houston Police Department officer salaries by 36.5% by 2030.
HPD officers’ currently have a salary of $62,574, which is lower than other neighboring cities such as Jersey Village and Austin, which pay salaries at $66,000 and $70,644, respectively. Additionally, a first-year Houston officer will now have a base salary of $75,000.
What else
To accommodate the county's law enforcement pay raise process was the second motion approved by commissioners that called for the forming of a negotiations committee tasked with negotiating what Precinct 4 Commissioner Lesley Briones called a “clear path to pay parity with the Houston Police Department for county law enforcement” over a five-year period. The first year would focus on securing at least $140 million for the pay raise.
Precinct 3 Commissioner Tom Ramsey said the vote was a response to an urgent issue and reaching the $140 million in savings was going to be difficult.
“That’s why we’re starting on the front end of the budget process. What we do know is currently, today, the [Houston Police Department] has 1,200 vacancies and Harris County law enforcement has roughly 350,” Ramsey said. “If we don’t do something today, this time next year there’ll be 1,200 vacancies in Harris County and 350 at the city.”
The specifics
The newly-formed committee would provide updates at every commissioners court meeting and would include representatives throughout the county law enforcement departments such as:
- Harris County Deputies organization
- Harris County Constables Association
- Chiefs of staff from the five Commissioners Court offices
- Harris County Human Resources
- Harris County Office of Management and Budget
Kevin Vu contributed to this report.
