Overview

• Commissioners advanced a motion to boost the annual salary for the county’s eight elected constables from about $178,000 to over $290,000, setting up final budget decisions in mid-September.
• The budget office proposed phasing in roughly 8% annual rate hikes for contract deputies over five years and requiring neighborhoods to cover at least 70% of new salaries and expenses.
• Many homeowner association patrol contracts for fiscal 2026 are already signed, making renegotiation difficult and risking costly cancellations under Texas law.
• Officials warned that mass contract terminations could force the county to absorb about $115 million per year in lost revenue.
• Some leaders, including Judge Lina Hidalgo and Commissioner Rodney Ellis, have questioned the funding strategy and urged tapping commissioners’ office budgets to cover the raises as the county faces a $200 million deficit.