POLITICADE / City & County Budget
๐Ÿค  YDHLGE Certified Local Fiscal Engine ยท 1,218 Cities & 254 Counties

Balance Your City & County Budget

Select any of the 1,472 Texas local governments audited by You Don't Have Enough Government Either (YDHLGE). Restructure departmental spending, enact local government reforms, and channel every dollar of surplus directly into cutting your local property tax bill.

๐Ÿ”

City of Houston

CITY ๐Ÿ“ Harris County ยท Pop. 2,314,157
Adopted FY26 Budget
$7.01B
Per-Capita Spend
$3,029
Adopted Tax Rate
$0.5192 / $100
1-Yr Budget Growth
+4.2%
YDHLGE Baseline
56.8 (C)
FY 2026 Budget Balance +$0 Balanced vs. Adopted
Property Tax Rate ($/$100) $0.5192 NNR Rate: $0.4910
Homeowner Impact ($300k) $0 / yr Bill: $1,558 / yr
YDHLGE Freedom Score 56.8 ยท C Baseline: 56.8 (C)
โšก Quick Fiscal Presets:

๐Ÿก Property Tax Rate & Homestead Exemption

Adjust your jurisdiction's ad valorem tax rate per $100 of taxable valuation, or expand the local Homestead Exemption up to the 20% statutory maximum.

Property Tax
Reformed Property Tax Rate ($ / $100) $0.5192 / $100 (0%)
-50% Cut NNR Rate Adopted (0%) 3.5% Cap +25% Hike
Additional Local Homestead Exemption Boost +0% Exemption

Texas Tax Code ยง11.13(n) allows cities and counties to exempt up to 20% of a primary residence's assessed value.

๐Ÿ  Homeowner Local Property Tax Receipt

See how your budget and tax rate reforms impact a homeowner's annual tax bill for this jurisdiction:

Adopted FY26 Local Tax Bill: $1,558 / yr
Your Reformed Local Tax Bill: $1,558 / yr
Property Tax Revenue Impact: $0
Annual Homeowner Tax Savings: $0 / yr ($0 / mo)

๐Ÿ›’ Local Sales Tax & Service Charges

Adjust local option sales tax allocations (up to the 2.0% local cap) and municipal/county permit & user fee schedules.

๐Ÿ› ๏ธ YDHLGE Local Structural & Privatization Reforms

Enact institutional guardrails, competitive service contracting, and debt transparency rules to permanently bend the local cost curve and boost your YDHLGE Freedom Score.

๐Ÿ“ˆ 5-Year Local Budget Trajectory (FY 2025 โ€“ FY 2030)

Compares the historical & adopted growth trajectory against your reformed budget path and the YDHLGE Taxpayer Max Cap (Population + Inflation).

๐Ÿ›๏ธ Reformed Expenditure Breakdown

Share of total local expenditures by department & fund under your reform blueprint.

๐Ÿ—ฝ YDHLGE Local Liberty & Fiscal Responsibility Scorecard

How your budget reforms shift this jurisdiction's official YDHLGE Freedom Index across Fiscal Restraint, Tax Burden, and Debt Health.

Reformed Freedom Score
64.2 / 100 (B)
A
CITY OF HOUSTON ยท HARRIS COUNTY, TX

Taxpayer Champion

You eliminated local budget bloat, respected the No-New-Revenue tax benchmark, and returned surplus dollars directly to homeowners.

๐Ÿ’พ Save Your Local Budget Blueprint
Store this city or county reform plan in your Politicade Citizen Account to compare jurisdictions or share anytime.
๐Ÿ“ฃ Challenge Fellow Citizens & Local Officials:

๐Ÿงพ Itemized Local Budget & Tax Reform Receipt

Department / Fund / Tax Lever Adopted FY26 Your Plan Net Change

๐Ÿ“˜ Share on Facebook (@Politicade)

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๐Ÿ“ธ Share on Instagram (@politicadeusa)

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