On Aug. 6, Lone Star College System’s board of trustees unanimously approved a balanced $577.5 million budget for fiscal year 2026-27, which features 2% raises for full- and part-time employees.

The gist: According to Aug. 7 meeting documents, the FY 2026-27 budget featured employee pay raises of:

• 2% increase for all full-time employees hired on or before March 31
• 2% bump for part-time hourly, non-instructional employees, except for student assistants and college work-study participants
• 2% more for adjunct faculty, who are paid per contact hour

• $18.5 million in additional funding from local taxes for FY 2026-27
• $7 million more state revenue for FY 2026-27

The Cy-Fair ISD board of trustees discussed a potential voter-approved tax rate election, or VATRE, and $1.63 billion bond election for the Nov. 3 ballot during the Aug. 6 work session.

What’s happening: CFISD’s proposed tax rate is $1.1569 per $100 of property value which would trigger a VATRE, and Chief Financial Officer Karen Smith said the district would receive $103 million in revenue from the increase.

Spanning from fiscal year 2024-25 into FY 2026-27, the district has made multiple budget cuts totaling $94.4 million in savings, Smith said. However, the projected shortfall for FY 2026-27 is $80.9 million, as previously reported by Community Impact. 

Smith said the district's current options for generating additional revenue include legislative action, removing the local optional homestead exemption, or LOHE, and increasing the maintenance and operations, or M&O, tax rate through a VATRE.

Looking ahead: The board of trustees plan to meet Aug. 10 at 6 p.m. in the Mark Henry Administration Building Boardroom located at 11440 Matzke Road, Cypress for a regular meeting.

Harris County is facing the task of balancing a $178 million shortfall going into fiscal year 2026-27—amid several requests that would require millions more in funding.

The big picture: According to the latest update from the county’s office of budget management, Harris County is facing a $178 million shortfall in the FY 2026-27 budget. Daniel Ramos, executive director of the Harris County Office of Management and Budget, said the county has faced a roughly $150 million shortfall annually in recent years.

The discussion: Harris County Precinct 1 Commissioner Rodney Ellis expressed heavy concern regarding how the county would ultimately address the shortfall, which has become a repetitive issue.

“When I was a banker, if you have a shortfall five years in a row, ... that's a structural deficit,” Ellis said.
”We’re about out of smoke and mirrors.”

Another thing: Commissioners also authorized raises for all eight elected constables, the district attorney, county attorney, district clerk, county clerk and tax assessor-collector which brought all positions to the same salary of $305,000 annually.

Need to catch up on Community Impact’s coverage from this week? Check out these trending stories across the northern portion of the Greater Houston area from Aug. 3-Aug. 7.

1. Tim Hortons to open along Barker Cypress Road in August

2. Humble ISD's rebuilt Foster Elementary School set to open in August

3. PREVIEW: Klein ISD board of trustees to call November election

4. Studio 3113 Modern Needlework opens store for crafters in The Woodlands

5. Emergency service providers adapt to keep up with growth

6. The future of downtown Tomball takes shape

7. Conroe ISD reviews preliminary budget, compensation plan at special meeting

Within the next year, Texans will likely see changes to when they can vote early in elections, including expanded weekend voting hours.

The overview: Last year, state lawmakers passed Senate Bill 2753, which shifts Texas’ early voting window closer to election day, cutting out a three-day gap between the two voting periods and adding more Saturday and Sunday voting.

While the changes did not take effect immediately and were designed to help boost voter turnout, local election administrators said the law will also significantly raise costs for municipalities and delay the release of election results.

Election officials said the current three-day break allows staff to set up polling places for election day and prepare submitted ballots so results from early and mail-in voting can be released quickly after the polls close on election night.

The impact: Harris County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth estimated that the shift would raise the cost of administering a large election by 30% and increase costs for smaller elections by 9%, due to personnel, equipment and voter education needs.