Harris County
Harris County has a population of approximately 3.6 million residents. Its head of government is the Judge, who is elected by the population of the county. He presides over a Commissioner's Court of four elected officials who are elected by different precincts. This is the governing board of county (Page 11). The Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) in question is for the fiscal year ending February 28, 2005. The general fund has two sets of budget figures presented, an adopted budget of, through which most revenues and expenditures pass, $1.310 billion and an adjusted budget of $2.134 billion (100)
The flood control project involves buying real estate in a pre-disaster mitigation program (34). (30) In theory, the financial stability of the county government is based upon strength of the real estate market. Harris county seems to be financially healthy. The total assets of the county are approximately $15 billion (39). (24)Like most county governments, the major source of revenue is property taxes. The government makes it a practice to reserve enough funds to pay the following year's debt service. This difference was funded through the issuance of debt (33). In practice, with only 40% of the assets funded by debt, the county of Harris should remain healthy for quite some time. In addition, the general fund has extra money as well. Property and hotel occupancy taxes of $871,565,147 were the largest revenue source for governmental activities and 50% of total revenues. The major initiatives of the county funded by this debt include flood control districts, toll road improvements, precinct road improvements, and repairs and improvements to county buildings (15). In addition, the General fund had a reserved fund balance of $112,291,065.
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Acceptance Essays
