Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo's proposed 1-cent property tax increase for early childhood programs died Thursday, Aug. 6, after no commissioner offered a second vote to advance the measure to the November ballot.

The motion died without a second.

The failure means Spring-area homeowners won't face a ballot question this fall on whether to fund expanded child care through their property taxes. It also means the county's Early REACH program, which provides 800 to 1,000 free child care slots for children from birth to age 4, will lose its federal funding when the grant period ends Sept. 30.

Hidalgo told commissioners the increase would have cost the average taxpayer about $26 per year and generated an estimated $66.6 million annually for early childhood programs, according to Click2Houston. Houston Public Media reported a lower figure of $10 per year for the average homeowner with a homestead exemption; the difference likely reflects varying property value baselines.

"This is not asking commissioners to approve the tax increase," Hidalgo said during the meeting. "This is asking whether we will let voters decide."

It's the second straight year the proposal has failed. Hidalgo brought a similar penny-tax initiative in August 2025, and it also stalled without enough support. After that meeting, commissioners voted 3-1 to censure Hidalgo for bringing children from a local daycare center into the courtroom.

Commissioner Rodney Ellis, a Democrat who spoke in favor of the child care program in 2025, again declined to second the motion. Commissioner Tom Ramsey, the lone Republican on the five-member court, pointed to the county's broader fiscal picture.

"The tax rate that we will be considering in just a few short weeks is probably the greatest tax-rate increase in the history of Harris County," Ramsey said at the meeting.

Harris County faces a projected $129 million budget shortfall for fiscal year 2027, with a budget vote expected in September. Ramsey said the upcoming tax rate could exceed 62 cents per $100 of taxable value.

Commissioners Lesley Briones and Adrian Garcia have pursued an alternative approach, partnering with the University of Houston to provide business development support to child care providers rather than backing a tax increase, the Houston Chronicle reported.

Hidalgo, who is not seeking a third term, leaves office in January. Democrat Letitia Plummer faces Republican Orlando Sanchez for Harris County Judge in November.

More than 90,000 children in Harris County are on a waitlist for subsidized child care, according to a Texas Workforce Commission fact sheet cited by the Houston Chronicle. The county directed roughly $150 million of its $1 billion in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds toward early childhood initiatives, described as the largest single county investment of COVID-era relief dollars in early education in the country.

Commissioners Court is expected to vote on the FY 2027 budget and tax rate in September.