Precinct 4 Commissioner Lesley Briones has proposed $1.4 million in the county’s next budget for worker pay and workforce programs, Community Impact reports. The largest piece would fund a $20 minimum wage for more than 200 frontline mental health employees at the Harris Center, with the remainder going to the county’s Apprenticeship Advantage Program and to carrying out its consultation and worksite safety policies.
The proposal has not been approved. Commissioners Court takes it up on September 17, the same meeting where the county is scheduled to hold its final vote on the proposed property tax rate. The amendment sits inside a proposed $3.09 billion budget that carries an estimated $180 million shortfall, which is the same gap driving the tax rate debate Lake Houston area homeowners will pay into.
