After months of departmental reviews, on May 31st, City Council voted unanimously to approve the budget for FY2018, which will begin on July 1st, 2017. Totaling $5.2B, the new budget closes the $130M deficit with minimal layoffs and maintains library and park services.
Budget Highlights:
- Council narrowly approved an amendment to increase Council District Service Fundsfrom $750,000 to $1M. I voted against the increase because, although this funding will facilitate valuable small projects in District C, the cumulative $2,750,000 could have nearly paid for an additional police cadet class – a badly needed benefit for the entire city. While the majority of my colleagues voted in favor of this increase, no revenue source was approved to fund it, and negotiations will ensue to determine the path forward for the amendment.
- The FY2018 budget fully funds Houston’s pension costs for the first time, following the Houston Pension Solution’s recent approval by the Texas Legislature.
- Most City departments achieved lowering their operating costs by approximately 3%, creating a reduction of $39.6M in spending.
With a fiscally conservative budget now in place for FY2018, Council will now focus on passing their annual update to the Capital Improvement Plan, which prioritizes the infrastructure projects that will be completed throughout Houston over the next five years.