More than $7 million from the neighborhoods department, $1.8 million from libraries and more than $4 million from health — those cuts are among the $74.5 million in slashed general fund spending from fiscal year 2025 to 2026, according to a proposed budget document presented Tuesday by Houston Mayor John Whitmire.
“The savings are going into the services,” Whitmire told reporters at a news conference, promising the city will still provide “the services that Houstonians expect and deserve.”
The unveiling of the mayor’s proposed budget kicks off a month-long process, including day-long presentations by all city departments over the next two weeks, budget town halls with community members and a public hearing at the Houston City Council meeting on May 21 before council votes on amendments and approval of the $7 billion budget, including more than $3 billion in spending from the city’s general fund.
When it comes to the source of spending cuts, Whitmire pointed to a recent study of inefficiencies in city spending conducted by professional services firm Ernst & Young. His finance director, Melissa Dubowski, said the study’s recommended overhaul of how the city procures goods and services will be “a big part” of the savings.
“That’ll be work that’s ongoing throughout the fiscal year,” Dubowski said. “You see that partially reflected in this budget, with more savings to come” as the city renegotiates contracts with outside vendors.
She also said the city will consolidate functions currently scattered across departments, like information technology, human resources and finance.
The city is expected to save about $30 million in general fund spending annually after more than 1,000 municipal workers accepted early retirement buyouts last month at an upfront cost of $11 million. Whitmire said the city will go through “reorganization” as the city looks for efficiencies, “but this budget does not anticipate laying off folks.”
“We don’t take anything off the table, but that would be the very, very last thing that I do,” Whitmire said. “I do not anticipate it. It’s not in our plans.”
Whitmire said the budget is “balanced” with “no deficit.” The document presented by the administration, however, showed a gap of $107 million between projected revenue and expenditures. That would require tapping into the city’s fund balance — essentially a savings account which is projected to hold $380.8 million at the end of the current fiscal year.
Pressed for clarification, Dubowski and Whitmire’s chief of staff, Chris Newport, in a statement again described the budget as “balanced” and a “major improvement” over the fiscal year 2025 budget, which called for a more than $200 million draw-down from the fund balance.
While the majority of city departments would see cuts to spending, the fire department would receive an additional $23 million in funding, the police department would add $67 million to its budget, solid waste would receive an extra $1.4 million and the housing department would get an additional $346,000.
Whitmire said the city will also spend about half a billion dollars on drainage and street repairs, though the document presented on Tuesday showed $1 million in general fund spending for the Houston Public Works department — down from $23 million last year. Taking into account all funding sources, the department’s overall budget last year was $3.26 billion. According to a spokesperson with the department, its overall budget will increase by $180 million to $3.4 billion.
The police and fire departments represent nearly 60% of the $3 billion in general fund spending. Last year, they accounted for about 55% of the spending. The increased share comes after the administration negotiated new contracts with the respective unions, including an approximately $850 million package approved last year to raise firefighter wages by 34% over five years and an $832 million agreement announced last week to boost police officer pay by 36.5% over the next five years.
Whitmire said the union deals and proposed budget represent his commitment to public safety, a key pillar of his 2023 campaign.
“That’s what Houstonians asked me to make as our highest priority,” he said.
Editor’s note: This story was updated at 5:23 p.m. May 6, 2025, to show that the city’s proposed general fund spending in fiscal year 2026 will be $74.5 million less than in fiscal year 2025.
