Harris County Commissioners Court voted Tuesday, September 9, to extend the county’s $20 an hour living wage standard to 222 employees of the Harris Center, the agency that provides mental health and intellectual and developmental disability services across the county. KPRC 2 reported the action, which also carries a 6 percent raise for those workers according to the union that represents them.
The Harris Center is not a county department, which is why its staff had not been covered by the living wage policy commissioners adopted for county employees and contractors in 2025. Harris Center CEO Keena Pace told KPRC 2 the vote means every Harris Center employee will earn at least $20 an hour.
Lake Houston area residents in Humble, Kingwood, Atascocita and Huffman are inside Harris County, and the Harris Center is the county’s designated local authority for mental health and IDD care, so its staffing is a local service question rather than a distant one. The vote also lands a week before commissioners take their final vote on the county tax rate and budget on September 17.
