Hidalgo on comptroller's police defunding claims: 'They are quite literally disenfranchising a county larger than 25 states'

Harris County is pursuing legal action in response to the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts’ discovery that it defunded law enforcement, Houston-based media outlets reported. 

Glenn Hegar, the state’s top revenue estimator, said on Friday, Feb. 10 Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo and the predominantly Democratic Harris County Commissioners Court reduced the budget of the Precinct 5 Constable’s Office by over $2 million despite Hidalgo’s assertions the county won’t make cuts to police budgets. 

“We approved a lawsuit against the state Comptroller,” Hidalgo said in a tweet. “Texas leaders are now No. 1: pushing for a do-over of the 2022 elections in Harris County and No. 2: seeking to freeze our revenue. They are quite literally disenfranchising a county larger than 25 states.”

Houston CBS affiliate KHOU reported that the aim of the county’s lawsuit is to stop Hegar’s order, barring it from setting a new tax rate for next year. 

Per the station, Hegar, whose office took on a complaint submitted to Gov. Greg Abbott's Criminal Justice Division by Constable Ted Heap late last year, chastised the litigation as a waste of taxpayer money. 

“[The comptroller’s] unfounded claims threaten to destabilize our ability to set an appropriate budget,” Hidalgo said, KHOU reported.

At the center of Heap’s complaint, Houston Daily reported on Monday, is the Harris County fiscal year (FY) 2023 budget in which the county purportedly cut the Precinct 5 Constable’s Office allocation by nearly $2.4 million from the previous budget. 

The comptroller’s office said Heap’s agency received $46,582,350 for the current FY, a dip from the $48,949,795 earmarked in the FY 2022 budget. 

“After careful review, I found that the complaint provides evidence of a reduction of funding for a law enforcement agency when comparing the adopted budget for the current fiscal year to the adopted budget for the preceding fiscal year,” Hegar, a Republican, said in a press release issued by his office, the publication reported.

According to Houston ABC affiliate KTRK, Hidalgo and Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee claimed that the comptroller’s calculations were wrong and his actions were politically motivated. 

Hidalgo, who secured a second term in the county’s highest post, asserted that the current budget has $1.4 billion earmarked for law enforcement. 

“That is 2/3 of the county budget going toward justice and going toward safety," she said in the report. "That is an increase over the last three and a half years of $175 million when it comes to criminal justice and crime."