Harris County commissioners and department leaders are considering implementing a yearlong hiring freeze to save at least $25 million in costs to address a projected $200 million-plus shortfall in fiscal year 2025-26.
Budget Director Daniel Ramos presented the personnel freeze proposal during the Aug. 26 commissioners court meeting, which stretched until 10 p.m., as nearly 200 residents signed up to address agenda items.
Quote of note
“It's definitely inconvenient for the departments,” Ramos said, “but the crossroads that we're at ... is, do we want to go back and identify $25 million worth of departmental cuts at this point, or do we want to do something more blanket, like a hiring freeze, where court can come and evaluate the positions, essentially one at a time, as they become vacant, or as they come up for hiring?”
Ramos said three of the county’s bigger departments—the engineering office, information technology services and public health—would be the most affected. The freeze would exclude positions in several departments identified as critical by county officials, including law enforcement, elections, the county clerk and park maintenance offices.
By the numbers
According to the updated version of the FY 25-26 county budget proposal document:
- The public health department has a proposed $59.6 million budget, which is $300,000 less than the $59.9 million approved budget last fiscal year.
- The engineering department has a proposed $81.8 million budget, which is roughly $5 million less than the $85.8 million approved budget last fiscal year.
- Universal services, which includes the county’s information technology department, has the largest budgeted amount of $110.5 million, which is $4 million less than the $114.8 million approved budget last fiscal year.
What they're saying
Multiple Harris County department leaders spoke Aug. 26 on how 10% cuts would affect their services. Harris County Public Health Interim Executive Director Leah Barton spoke about several county programs backed by federal funding, such as the Maternal & Child Health program and the lead testing and abatement program.
“Those are all programs that we have had in the [American Rescue Plan Act] that we would have been able to continue funding,” Barton said. “Through our efficiencies, we would have been able to bring some of those costs into the general fund so that they could continue, but these cuts make that difficult.”
Harris County Public Library Director Edward Melton oversees operations throughout the county’s 26 branches. He said some of the possible cuts could equate to longer hold times in getting access to public materials.
“In terms of our offset, it really impacts our collection development,” Melton said.
What we know
Over the last eight months, Harris County commissioners asked the county’s more than 80 department leaders and staff to identify at least 10% in potential cost-saving opportunities within their current level of services to address a projected $200 million-plus shortfall in the FY 2025-26 budget, county officials said.
Preliminary budget expenses are estimated to cost at least $2.95 billion, while revenue is projected to reach nearly $2.7 billion, according to budget documents. Ramos said at the Aug. 26 meeting that a "balanced budget" was achieved through several cost-saving initiatives, which Precinct 4 Commissioner Lesley Briones highlighted during a press conference, stating examples of offsets that wouldn't impact county services:
- Savings through efficiency measures: $5 million renegotiating technology contracts, $6 million consolidating computer purchases
- Utilizing special revenue sources: $20 million unspent ARPA funds, $1 million fire code fund
- Identifying vacant positions held for at least six months that will no longer be needed: $11 million
Briones encouraged the public to watch the upcoming Sept. 2-5 budget hearings and to stay engaged.
"I know that the people are as invested in making sure we're executing with excellence and being good stewards of taxpayers," Briones said. "I thank all the countless hours that have gone into it."
