5. Where the money goes¶
Figure 6. Change in General Fund appropriations by department, FY27 vs FY26 adopted.
Law enforcement absorbs the largest share: the eight constables' offices rise $79.3M (+27%) and the Sheriff's three budgets rise $73.7M (+10%), together nearly half of the $326M increase. Part of the constables' jump ($26.2M) is an accounting move: county-funded contract-patrol dollars that were held in General Administration in FY26 were pushed into the law-enforcement budgets in FY27 (a reallocation, not new spending). Court-appointed attorney fees are budgeted $16.7M lower, a bet that the expanding Public Defender's Office (+$17.3M, +25%) will divert cases; the Auditor's June report shows FY26 county-court appointed-attorney spending had already exceeded its budget ($16.7M spent against $15.6M). Elections operations fall $9.6M in a non-presidential year. Public Health rises $17.1M (+29%) as former ARPA programs move onto the General Fund.
Figure 7. Salaries and benefits, the line that captures pay parity, pay equity and healthcare together.
Figure 8. The audited context: the property-tax levy rose 27% from FY23 to FY25 and the workforce grew by 2,051 FTEs (11.4%) in the same two years, after growing about 1.2% a year before that.
| Contract patrol program ($M) | FY21 | FY22 | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 | FY26 | FY27 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Contracted officers | 1,015 | 1,040 | 1,142 | 1,201 | 1,208 | 1,233 | 1,344 |
| Paid by customers (HOAs, MUDs, ISDs) | $78.6 | $82.5 | $95.0 | $104.8 | $111.6 | $114.3 | $131.0 |
| Covered by the county | $27.9 | $29.4 | $31.6 | $34.9 | $37.8 | $76.1 | $90.8 |
| Total program cost | $106.5 | $111.9 | $126.6 | $139.7 | $149.4 | $190.4 | $221.8 |
Table 4. Source: FY27 Vol. I v3 pp. 20-21. The county-funded share nearly tripled after pay parity because contract rates are being phased in over five years (8.8% a year) to avoid customer cancellations. The book splits the FY27 $90.8M into $51.0M for contracts written for less than 100% of an officer's time (the county retains the remaining service) and $39.8M for contract rates below actual officer cost; only the $39.8M is an unambiguous pricing shortfall. FY27 contracts as of 9/9/2026.
Indigent defense and jail. Spending on court-appointed counsel and the Public Defender was $142M in FY24 and $171M in FY25 and is projected at $184M for FY26, driven by case volume, a 2023 fee-structure change that lets appointed attorneys bill for out-of-court work, and backlog clearing. The FY27 budget adds $15M so the Public Defender can move from 22% toward 50% of eligible cases. Average daily jail population fell from about 9,900 to under 8,500 as time-to-disposition improved; outsourcing continues (550 fewer outsourced beds planned; $3M in new detention-officer staffing to save $6M). Separately, $78M of jail medical cost moved from the General Fund to the Harris Health tax rate starting in FY26, which is one reason Harris Health's rate rose in 2025 and again in 2026.