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On June 12th, I voted along with a majority of the city council to approve the Mayor’s budget for Fiscal Year 2025. The vote tally was 15-2 in favor. The upcoming fiscal year runs from July 1 through the end of June 2025. The $6.7 billion budget does not include increased taxes or a garbage fee and reduces the rate of increase of the total budget size from the previous year’s budget.
A big highlight is the addition of a sixth Houston Police Academy class of cadets that passed via a budget amendment that I offered and that the Mayor and his team supported. I’m proud to say that the additional cadet class will allow the department to put more officers on the streets, reduce response times, and make us safer. The budget will also help to reduce the backlog at the Houston Forensic Science Center (our crime lab) by providing additional funding to outsource DNA case work. This will make it possible for cases to move more quickly through our crowded criminal courts.
Of the $6.7 billion budget, $3.7 billion will come from three “enterprise” departments – the Airport System, Convention and Entertainment Facilities, and Public Works, which are funded through user fees and dedicated revenue sources, making them self-sustaining. The remaining $3 billion consists of General Fund dollars, approximately two-thirds of which goes to fund our police and fire departments.
Property tax makes up half of the city’s General Fund revenue (an increase of 3.2% from FY24), while sales tax revenue is forecast to produce 31% of the city’s General Fund revenue (an increase of 1.4% from FY24).
The Council also passed my second proposed budget amendment which will fund language access coordination to improve access to emergency and other services for more Houstonians who are not fluent in English. Recent weather emergencies have underscored gaps in our services throughout city departments and showed the need for improvement.
On June 18th, I joined Mayor Whitmire and the city council in a unanimous vote to approve the $650 million fire fighter lawsuit settlement and collective bargaining agreement. This historic vote ended years of litigation and acrimony between the previous administration and the fire fighters union. The vote avoided the probability of an even larger judgment at the end of a trial.
The amendment for the sixth class of cadets at the Houston Police Academy and the historic settlement with firefighters demonstrate my dedication to public safety.
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