Message from the Mayor
My number one priority as your mayor is fiscal responsibility. Achieving this during a tight economy requires a willingness to make tough decisions.
When I arrived in the mayor’s office, the city was facing a $205 million gap between anticipated spending and available revenues. The economy had pushed down our revenue pool while expenditures were rising due to contractual obligations for health insurance, pensions and employee pay agreed to prior to my arrival. Through a combination of operational consolidations, expenditure reductions, personnel cutbacks, sales of surplus land, cost of service increases and employee furloughs, we have been able to close that gap.
This webpage will provide a detailed look at the tough decisions we’ve been making, and will continue to make, as we work to institutionalize this new approach to financial management.
"Closing the Budget Gap"
- View 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 01.31.2012, .pdf)
Balancing the FY2011 and FY2012 Budgets
Click graphic below for full-sized versions in .jpg
Economic Development
By the end of March 2012, the City of Houston recorded $1.041 billion of new economic investment, resulting in more than 13,000 new jobs.
- View the Document (updated 02.03.2011, .pdf)
- 2010-2011 COH Investment vs. Jobs Chart (.pdf, updated 04.11.2012)
Click graphics below for full-sized versions in .jpg
FY2012 Implemented Initiative Detail (A and B)
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 ...
- View the Full Document (.pdf)
- American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (.pdf)
Long Range Financial Mgmt Task Force
Houston City Council has formed 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 will review health care costs, pension obligations and debt. Click here to see the presentations from the group’s first meeting.
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 10.7143% 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
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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)