Harris County Commissioners Still Oppose Toll Money Transfer

All of the Harris County commissioners remain staunchly opposed to a revised Senate bill that would redirect county toll road money to the City of Houston, according to the Quorum Report.

Senate Bill 2722 would add restrictions to the ways that counties with more than four million residents can spend county toll funds. With a population of about five million, Harris County is the only municipality to which that applies. (Dallas County, the next-most populous, has about 2.6 million residents.)

Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, wrote the bill in response to findings that the Harris County Toll Road Authority used money for “projects for non-drivers: sidewalks, bike lanes, bike paths, intersections, etc.,” according to his sponsor statement. “The distribution of excess HCTRA funds is being guided by political formulation and not on a transportation-related basis.”

The Senate passed the bill 21-8 at the end of April. Two Republican senators, Brandon Creighton of Conroe and Bryan Hughes of Mineola, voted against the measure with six Democrats.

Last week the House Transportation Committee adopted a substitute version of the bill and sent it to the full House for consideration. But the House changes are no more tenable to the Commissioners Court than the original iteration, according to QR.

The House substitute would represent a $25 million annual transfer to the City of Houston, according to a statement to QR from Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia.

“Members of the Legislature should know that anyone saying Harris County has agreed to $25M a year on SB2722 has misinformation,” Garcia wrote. “We remain committed to good-faith negotiations for a data-driven reimbursement approach, but all members of Commissioners Court are still opposed.”

According to the bill website, the House committee’s favorable report has been sent to the Calendars Committee, but it has not yet been scheduled for a floor hearing.