Harris County leaders waiting on details on Judge Lina Hidalgo's penny child care tax increase plan

HARRIS COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) -- Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo told ABC13 viewers about a tax increase for a county child care program, which wasn't just new to our viewers but to commissioners who will be voting on it soon.

Commissioner learns about tax hike proposal from ABC13

On Wednesday, Hidalgo shared with ABC13 her plans for a penny proposal to keep a child care program running.

"That would allow us enable us to continue these programs and actually expand them a little bit," Hidalgo explained.

It's a proposal she shared for the first time with ABC13 viewers -- a report that wasn't just new for our viewers, but also for county commissioners.

"When you called just a little while ago, that's when we heard about the program," Commissioner Tom Ramsey said. "It was news reports, no briefings."

Ramsey said it's not new. He said he's been in the dark from other proposals.

"That's consistent with nearly everything Judge Hidalgo has done since she's been on court," Ramsey explained. "We get very little information. There is a thrown-together presentation here or there."

Why Hidalgo wants a penny tax hike for childcare

At next month's commissioners court meeting, Hidalgo said she plans to add to the agenda a penny proposal to keep a child care program going.

The program is Early REACH, which allows eligible kids four and under to go to child care for free.

The county created it using federal COVID-19 relief dollars. Hidalgo said the money is running out.

In order to keep the program running, Hidalgo said it'll cost $60 million. To get the money, she's turning to a penny tax proposal. Hidalgo said it'll cost homeowners $10 more per year for every $100,000 of home evaluation.

Policy experts question the timing

Commissioner Ramsey says he won't support the tax increase. It's a proposal, he says, that may be difficult, knowing the county could be facing a multi-million dollar budget deficit.

"The first thing that Judge Hidalgo wants to do is to raise taxes before we even begin the budget process," Ramsey said.

The county has to approve a budget by October. Policy experts said that normally, tax increases come up during those discussions.

"What I'd want to do is part of the regular order, which is to do it part of the budget cycle," Baker Institute at Rice policy fellow Bill King said. "To go off and say, we're going to spend it on some project because I want to do it without knowing what the rest of the budget is going to look like."

Commissioners wait for details ahead of August agenda

ABC13 reached out to all commissioners. We didn't hear back from Commissioner Rodney Ellis, but we did hear back from spokespeople for Commissioners Adrian Garcia and Lesley Briones.

"The County Judge's office has not provided details on their proposal to our office. We are awaiting independent evaluations of the County's current federally funded Early Childhood Initiatives. Those assessments, which will be completed next year, will provide critical data on outcomes and impacts. We look forward to reviewing the final reports when they are presented and making a data-driven decision." - Syan Rhodes, Press Secretary, Office of Harris County Precinct 4 Commissioner Lesley Briones

"The Judge's office has yet to provide any details on her tax increase proposal. Before we can give any thoughtful response, we would like courtesy of reviewing the proposal," a spokesperson from Harris County Precinct 2 Adrian Garcia's office said.

Hidalgo says she plans to bring the proposal to court at the beginning of next month. If it passes, it'll go to voters this November.

ABC13 asked Hidalgo's office if they shared details with other commissioners. We also asked if there's data showing results from the child care program. As of this publication, ABC13 has not heard back.

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