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Texas

Level state
Part of United States

Governments covered

Investigations

Investigation Status Headline
Harris County, Texas: FY2027 budget Revision 2 (Sept. 23, 2026), independently reviewed General Fund departmental appropriations rose 11.8% to $3.095B; a $181M planning gap was closed with the maximum no-election tax rate, $82.9M of one-time revenue and a $16M surplus drawdown; pay and spending decisions are disclosed but dispersed across separate votes and tables.
Houston ISD: funding and spending, FY2019-FY2027 Second edition, 2026-10-08 (history back to FY2019; labeled budget and forecast figures through FY2027); independently reviewed 2026-10-08 and rechecked 2026-10-12, corrections applied After four General Fund surpluses (FY2019-FY2022), HISD ran $497 million of deficits in FY2023-FY2025 and its reserves fell below the FY2019 level; per-student state formula funding did not fall, and the state's larger share since 2023 is mostly tax-compression backfill that also ended HISD's recapture payments ($969 million over 2018-19 to 2024-25).

Texas local governments budget on their own fiscal years and set property-tax rates under the state's truth-in-taxation rules (Tax Code chapter 26), which cap the growth of maintenance-and-operations revenue from existing property at 3.5% a year without a voter-approval election for most cities and counties. County budgets are adopted by the Commissioners Court; the County Auditor, appointed by the district judges, certifies the resources available. State government, cities and special districts can be added here as investigations are completed.