Where Houston's tax dollars go

2026 tax rates

Per $100 of taxable value. Every Harris County home pays the countywide units; the city, school district and others depend on the address.

School district rates: scorecards and the Bond Guide.

Every taxing unit in Harris County

587 units — the county, cities, school and college districts, utility districts, emergency services districts and the rest — with the rates each has adopted, from the Harris County Tax Office's Truth-in-Taxation table, read automatically. A unit's new rate appears here as soon as the Tax Office posts it.

141 of 587 units adopted a rate above their no-new-revenue rate, the rate that would bring in the same property-tax money as last year from the same properties. Show only those

Follow one dollar of Houston's General Fund

FY2027 adopted General Fund: $3.2B. Each bar is that line's share of every dollar. [20]

Cents per dollar are worked out by H-Town Ledger from the city's adopted figures; the lines shown are the largest, not all of them.

Budgets

Harris County: courts and law enforcement lines

• District Attorney: $152,247,941 (proposed) [24]
• Public Defender: $86,317,411 (proposed; the adopted budget added $15 million) [24]
• District Courts: $44,792,186 (proposed, plus $72.5 million for court-appointed attorneys) [24]
• Constables, Precincts 1-8: $345,232,091 (proposed; Precinct 4 alone $98,458,791) [24]

Debt clock

What the audits say

From each government's audited annual financial report: what it paid in interest on its debt that year, and what its general fund actually spent against the budget it adopted. Read from the reports themselves, with the page each figure is printed on.

City pensions

From each system's July 1, 2024 risk sharing valuation study, the latest posted by the city.

The firefighter settlement

• The city agreed March 14, 2024 to pay firefighters $650 million in back pay dating to 2017, plus a five-year contract with raises of up to 34% through 2029. [34]
• In July 2024 the city sold $589.4 million in general obligation bonds to fund the lump-sum payment. S&P moved its outlook on the city to negative. [35]
• The settlement was estimated to cost about $72 million a year, about $36 million of it in debt service on the judgment bonds, repaid over 25 to 30 years. [36]

Homelessness: dollars and people

• The city's first homelessness plan (November 2024) set a $70 million year-one target: $25 million from the city, about $20 million from Harris County, $15 million from nonprofits and $10 million from other governments. [37]
• Pathways to Independence, announced Oct. 7, 2026, is a three-year, $48 million effort; $34 million had been raised, from five Houston foundations. [38]
• The 2026 point-in-time count found 3,321 homeless people across Harris, Fort Bend and Montgomery counties, against 3,325 in 2025; more than a third were unsheltered. [39]
• The Way Home partners housed 2,135 households in 2025. [39]

The city's budget gap

• The city started FY2027 budget work facing a $209 million structural gap and closed all but $25 million, which it covered from fund balance. [40]

Biggest money items on the agendas, last 60 days

• $22BHumble ISD · Oct 20, 2026
  2026 Humble ISD Tax Roll & Appraisal Roll Board Policy/State Regulation/Law Reference (if Applicable): Texas Property Tax Code, Section 26.09 (e) and Texas Property Tax Code, Section 26.04 (b) Overview: The Texas Property Tax Code, Section…
• $3BWebster · Sep 22, 2026
  % increase to the 202 5 adjust ed taxable value of $ 3,043,642,931 . The total increase in taxable value of $ 255,661,993 consists of an increase in the value of existing property by $ 234,730,049 and the addition of new property value of …
• $486.9MHCC · Oct 5, 2026
  r e s e n t a o n State Funding Framework and Projections (THECB) Robert McCracken Vice Chancellor, Administration and Operations Andrea Burridge Vice Chancellor, Strategy, Planning, and IE Major Revenue Sources Comparison Major Revenue So…
• $231.1MWest University Place · Sep 14, 2026
  66% above the historical average experienced since year 2000. Projects to be Financed Estimated Funding Project Description Project Cost General Obligation Projects Stella Link / S. Braeswood Land Purchase $32,140,000 (Tax-Supported) Deten…
• $130.4MHarris County · Sep 22, 2026
  Request for approval of a renewal option with Netsync Network Solutions for F5 network hardware, software, maintenance, support, training, consulting services for the Toll Road Authority for the period of February 1, 2027 - January 31, 202…
• $83.8MWebster · Sep 22, 2026
  IT Administrator position request for $95,957 was removed from Information Technology Fund. As submitted, the Fiscal Year 202 6 - 2 02 7 budget includes total resources of $81,603,882 and expenditures of $83,766,214 including use of fund b…
• $77.1MHarris County · Oct 15, 2026
  Request by the Office of Management and Budget for approval of commercial paper funding for Engineering for the Miscellaneous Building Cost project in the additional amount of $4,370,000 for a total CP funding of $77,115,000.
• $72.8MHarris County · Sep 17, 2026
  Request for approval of an order, prepared by the County Attorney, approving the assignment from the Harris County Housing Finance Corporation (HCHFC) to the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA), of a $72,774,039 reser…

The whole contract and settlement feed →