The price of living in Houston and Harris County is going up.
The question is: by how much?
Harris County Commissioners Court answered part of that question Tuesday by preliminarily increasing its overall property tax rate to 60.4 cents per $100 of assessed value, a little more than 7 cents higher than the current levy. The court is expected to finalize the rate Sept. 19.
The city of Houston could be looking at a property tax increase of its own next month as the mayor and city council seek ways to shore up a projected $160 million deficit, pay for a $1.5 billion contract and settlement with the firefighters union, and recover unplanned cleanup costs from the May derecho and Hurricane Beryl.
Almost immediately after the council approved Mayor John Whitmire’s first $6.6 billion budget in June, the administration turned its attention to closing the deficit projected for the fiscal year that begins next July.
Options under consideration include a monthly garbage fee, raising the city’s voter-approved revenue cap and shifting some utility revenue to the operations budget. Whitmire also has pledged to cut spending wherever possible before presenting a “creative financial plan” for the city next month.