With a noon deadline Aug. 7 to potentially let voters decide on a 1-cent property tax increase to fund early childhood education programs in Harris County, the Harris County Commissioners Court agenda item, presented by Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, ultimately failed without commissioners' support.

"It has to be on the ballot this year, because otherwise we would basically be starting everything over," Hidalgo said.

How we got here

Hidalgo proposed the property tax increase at the Aug. 7 commissioners court meeting in order to fund early childhood education initiatives, including the Early Reach program, the federally funded early childhood education pilot program launched in June 2023 using American Rescue Plan Act funds.

The program was designed to provide free, high-quality child care for families in high-need areas, addressing the challenges faced by both children and child care providers in the county.

About $29 million in ARPA funds have been used for the Early Reach program, according to the county's ARPA website. While the pilot program will still be functioning until at least June 2026, according to county officials, the federal funding ends at the end of 2026.

For any proposed tax rate that is above the voter-approval rate, a taxing entity must seek voter approval to adopt such a rate, according to the Texas Comptroller tax website.

The no-new revenue tax rate for the 2024 tax year was $0.35176 per $100 of valuation.

What they're saying

The proposal needed approval from commissioners before qualifying for a November ballot vote. With less than 20 minutes for court discussion, Precinct 4 Commissioner Lesley Briones and Precinct 3 Commissioner Tom Ramsey spoke on education programs in the county in the fiscal budget.

Ramsey said education programs should be under the scope of local school districts rather than a county initiative.

“We’re asking the voters to vote on $66 million for a less than $30 million program. That’s one issue,” Ramsey said. “I don’t even think we have enough data we need to go to the voters because we haven’t fully vetted all the spending we’re currently doing and what the cuts that could be made [are] in some of those areas.”

The gist

With Hidalgo lacking support, commissioners ultimately decided not to take a vote.