6. Pay increases: what was approved, when, and where it shows up¶
Figure 9. Elected official pay, from Appendix D of the FY27 budget book.
| Action | Decided | Vote | Annual cost | Where it appears in FY27 documents |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Law-enforcement pay parity with HPD (deputies, constables' deputies, jailers; five-year phase-in following HPD's 36.5% contract) | May 22, 2025 (motion, before a funding source); funded Sept. 24, 2025 in FY26 budget | 3-2 (Ramsey, Garcia, Briones for; Hidalgo, Ellis against) | $142M year 1 (FY26); +$44.6M year 2 in FY27 department lines (+$3.4M HCTRA); reported $292M/yr by 2030 fully phased | Vol. II "Change Table" per department ("Year 2 - Law Enforcement Pay Parity Plan"); Vol. I p. 21 narrative; no single total published in Vol. I |
| Pay-equity (compensation study, Gallagher; 4,454 titles to 758, 127 grades to 20) | Late 2025; implemented Feb. 2026 | 3-1 (Ramsey against; Hidalgo absent) | $73M/yr reported; FY26 $50M held in General Administration; FY27 $55.6M in department lines + $21.4M still central "pending finalization" + $30M "compensation study increases" line | Vol. I p. 76 (Dept. 202 detail); Vol. II per-department "Pay Equity Increases" lines |
| Elected officials to $305,000 (8 constables, DA, County Attorney, District Clerk, Tax Assessor-Collector); County Clerk declined; Treasurer denied | Aug. 6, 2026 (stand-alone agenda item, budget not yet proposed) | Approved; Hidalgo against; Ellis abstained then supported | Base salary +$786K/yr for 12 officials (+$45K each constable, +$87.5K DA/CA, +$125.6K clerk/TAC); benefits extra; county says absorbed within existing budgets | Vol. I Appendix D (one page, p. 124); Vol. II constable change tables ("Constable Pay Increase $55,616") |
| Appointed officials / department heads "salary parity" | Sept. 8, 2026 amendment | Part of 3-2 budget amendments | $0.3M | Vol. I v3 p. 2 change list; Vol. II lines of ~$56K in several departments |
| Employee healthcare: county absorbs full increase; OMB's proposed premium/deductible increases removed | Aug. 17 proposal; removed Sept. 8, 2026 | Court amendment | County contribution +$100M, the response to a projected $92M Health Insurance Fund shortfall (after program changes and a $6M workers'-comp transfer); $9M of proposed employee cost-sharing forgone | Vol. I pp. 16-17, Appendix E ($25,342 per employee); Vol. I v3 p. 2 |
| Harris Center wage floor ($20/hour) and worker programs | Sept. 8, 2026 | Amendment (Briones) | $1.4M | Vol. I v3 p. 3 |
| Bilingual pay incentive; law-enforcement supervisors' pay; overtime from parity | FY26-FY27 | n/a | $3.0M; $0.1M+; $0.6M (DA) | Vol. II change tables |
Table 5. Sources: HPM 5/23/2025; Fox 26 5/22/2025; FY26 Vol. I p. 16; FY27 Vol. I v3 pp. 2, 16-17, 76, 124-125; FY27 Vol. II v2 change tables (data/vol2_change_items_aggregated.csv); The Texan (pay equity); HPM 8/7/2026; KPRC 8/20/2026.
Cumulative effect. The Auditor's cash-basis salaries-and-benefits line grew from $1,634M (FY24) to $1,757M (FY25) and is projected at $1,988M for FY26 (+13.1%), before the second parity step and the full pay-equity year land in FY27. The department-level change tables in Vol. II add $81.5M for group health across the 81 General Fund departments ($87.5M including the Toll Road and Flood Control), $44.6M for parity, $30.8M to fund law-enforcement vacancies and $30.0M of net compensation-study money (the $60.8M distributed to department lines is offset by an equal reduction of the central pool), plus $26.2M of contract-patrol funding moved from General Administration into the constables' budgets, partly offset by an $8.0M lower pension contribution. Constables' pay has risen 129% since FY24 ($133,000 to $305,000) through three separate actions; the county also created a "LE Rollover Fund" this year because H.B. 192 (effective Dec. 2025) bars the county from reducing or repurposing Sheriff and constable appropriations, so $18.5M of unspent FY26 law-enforcement money carries into FY27 outside the General Fund total.
No across-the-board raise is itemized. Vol. I lists "cost of living adjustments" among the cost-to-continue drivers and the town-hall slides show $41M of "inflationary costs", but neither book states a general COLA percentage for FY27; pay changes are carried inside the parity, pay-equity and department lines.