Director of Communications Amery.Reid@pct3.hctx.net Direct: 281-840-0099
HARRIS COUNTY, TX – My colleagues claim they want to ‘lower the temperature’ and allow ‘cooler minds to prevail’ yet they pull dozens of Precinct 3 and 4 projects, and delay them for the second court in a row. These projects include pedestrian safety improvements, flood risk reduction projects for underserved areas, and even block payments and opportunities for Minority/Women-owned Business Enterprises. Commissioner Garcia claims he had questions about the projects, yet he didn’t ask a single one to the County Engineer. The projects could have and should have been pushed through as they do not relate to tax or budget discussions.
These are not actions of people who want to compromise. These are actions of bullies. They continue to push false narratives of “cuts” to healthcare and law enforcement, but in reality – there are no cuts. We are receiving the same amount of revenue, if not more due to new construction revenue.
Many are concerned about inflation and an increase in operational costs, but this can be mitigated by addressing the already bloated budget, which includes:
- PFM Consulting Contract: expended over $11M to date
- HART Program: $5M (duplicates the award-winning CORE Program)
- Public Defender: $10M (Public Defender did not request a budget increase, but
received funds that were slated for the District Attorney’s Office anyway)
That’s just a small preview. We can meet our financial needs by prioritizing the budget and cutting the waste. We have a spending problem, not a revenue problem.
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