Message from the Mayor
My administration has five priorities:
• Jobs and sustainable development
• Public safety
• Infrastructure
• Quality of life and
• Fiscal responsibility
This web page will provide a detailed look at the progress we’ve made, and will continue to make, in the area of fiscal responsibility.
When I arrived in the mayor’s office, the city was facing a $205 million gap between anticipated spending and available revenues. Closing this gap dominated my first term two years in office. In my second term, there is more work to be done, but the progress to date is evident in our current City budget: a budget that does not include service cuts, layoffs, furloughs or the use of long-term debt to cover day-to-day expenses.
Houston’s economy is doing much better than it was a year ago. Our job growth continues to be the envy of the rest of the nation, property values are improving and consumer spending is on the rise. Challenges remain, but we will continue to meet them head on with firm fiscal stewardship.
Our Budget
- Find out how your money is spent by viewing My Tax Dollars at Work website
- Current Fiscal Year Operating Budget (.html)
- Capital Improvement Plan Web Application (.html)
- Five Year Financial Forecast (.pdf)
- Staffing Comparisons, Employee Counts (thru 03.31.2013, .pdf)
Economic Development
By the end of 2012, the City of Houston recorded more than $2 billion of new economic investment, resulting in more than 16,800 new jobs.
- 2010-2012 Economic Development and Job Creation Chart (.pdf, updated 01.07.2013)
An Overview of Grant Awards to City of Houston
The City of Houston recognizes the significant impact that federal, state and private grant programs have in providing vital public services and improving the quality of life of every Houstonian. Over the years, the City has been able to fund important public improvement projects, promoted neighborhood revitalization, supported sustainability initiatives, enhanced public safety, and provided numerous other programs and services that would have been impossible to pay for without grant funds. Further, as more and more citizens struggle in the current economic climate, government assistance—particularly grants—will provide an increasingly important safety net for our most vulnerable citizens ...
Long Range Financial Mgmt Task Force
In 2011, Houston City Council created a 16-member Long-Range Financial Management Task Force to develop alternatives for protecting the City’s financial health for the next 30 years. The panel reviewed health care costs, pension obligations and debt. Click below to see the presentations to the group:
Accounts Receivable & Collections
Updates below are .pdf unless otherwise indicated
Tax Collections
The following are the governmental taxes that the City of Houston collects:
- Property Taxes – City's current rate is $0.63875 / per $100 taxable value
- Sales Taxes – Total state and local tax rate is 8.25%.
- Composition of the total tax rate is as below:
- State collects 6.25%,
- METRO (Transit) collects 1% and
- City collects 1%
- Composition of the total tax rate is as below:
- Hotel Occupancy Taxes – Total state and local tax rate is 17%
- Composition of the total tax rate is as below:
- State collects 6%;
- County collects 2%,
- Houston-Harris County Sports Authority collects 2% and City collects 7%
- Composition of the total tax rate is as below:
- Mixed Beverage Taxes – State tax rate is 14% on the mixed beverage sales
- City collects 8.3065% of the total amount paid for any businesses located within the City.
- Bingo Taxes – State tax rate is 5% of the amount or value of all bingo prizes awarded City collects 2.5% of the prizes won
Help the City Save Money
Submit your suggestion(s) below:
eVendor Disbursement
The Controller's Office is responsible for Houston's cash disbursements. City Controller Ronald C. Green has made these daily payment records available to increase office transparency and show the nature of payments made by the City. If you are a City supplier or have questions about the nature of a specific payment, please contact the Department you are currently working with. For additional information on specific payments please contact our City Vendor Liaison. The data contained on this website is for informational purposes only.
- View the Page (.html)