HOUSTON, Texas – The Houston City Council asked almost every department to trim its budget this year, trying to cut costs with a $330 million deficit. But are your elected city council members taking the same cuts?
2 Investigates’ Amy Davis is taking a look at all 16 members to see who is spending the most and who is the most frugal with your money.
Houston is a big city with a $7 billion budget. Each council member has their own smaller operating budget, with a lot of discretion on how they spend the money. Money not spent at the end of each fiscal year goes back to the city’s general fund, or whichever department the council member designates the leftover money.
Houston city council budgets
Each member gets $624,023 to run their office.
Their own salary ($62,982.92) and the pay for any district staffers come out of the same allotment.
And every time the council member makes a charge on their city-issued credit card, they use these tax dollars to pay the bill.
We reviewed credit card statements for 2023, 2024, and January through July of 2025. Some council members joined the council in 2024. Since this was the only full year reflecting the spending of all 16 current council members, we used 2024 for our comparison. Our analysis shows the council members racking up the most charges in 2024:
- District F council member Tiffany Thomas: $45,981.
- At-large Council member Willie Davis: $32,129.44.
- Council member Edward Pollard of District J: $32,021.90.
- At-large position number 3, council member Twila Carter: $30,892.80.
What were they buying?
A big chunk of expenses went to travel. We found council members went on trips to Guatemala, Mexico City, Colombia, and Monterrey, Mexico — trips to build relationships and attend conferences on your dime. Council members Willie Davis and Twila Carter did not make any international trips. Most of their expenses appear to be office-related to supplies and catering for district town hall meetings.
Council members who spent the least didn’t pass along any travel expenses to taxpayers.
- Sallie Alcorn, at-large #5: $8,097.83
- Council member Abbie Kamin: $6,544.56
- Council member Amy Peck: $2,699.82
Davis and the KPRC 2 Investigates team analyzed more than 30 months of council members’ credit card statements to reveal who the biggest spenders are and what they are buying.
Council member Tiffany Thomas led the pack in spending.
- About 25% of Thomas’ charges, or $11,277, paid for travel.
- She took 10 flights in 2024 and six more between January and July 2025, traveling to cities including Washington, D.C., Tampa, Cleveland, New Orleans and Mexico City.
- When not flying, Thomas frequently paid for photography services.
- City purchase card statements show she paid Dotson Photography 38 times from 2023 through 2025, totaling $8,383.84.
- This year, she paid another photographer $1,600, bringing her total spending on photos and videos to nearly $10,000.
- She also paid a graphic design company for a shareable image promoting campaign fundraising reception.
Peter Koelling, a public budgeting professor at the University of Houston Hobby School of Public Affairs, said taxpayers have a right to know how their money is spent.
“This is the taxpayer’s money. And they have a right to know how it’s being spent and why it’s being spent,” Koelling said. “Transparency, transparency, transparency. If you’re going to give people flexibility in what they’re spending, the other side of that coin is transparency.”
Thomas told 2 Investigates by email, “We proudly invest in photography, videography, and communications — and will continue to do so to ensure residents can see their tax dollars at work in real time.”
She said many of the photos are used in her social media posts and District F’s annual report.
Not all council members spent as much.
District A Council member Amy Peck charged just $2,699.82 for all of 2024.
“We just try to be really good stewards of our tax dollars,” Peck said. “We ask other departments to do the same, so it’s important that we do that as well.”
Peck said she does not use tax dollars for travel and uses campaign funds if she needs to fly to represent her district.
Other council members who did not charge any flights in 2024 include Abbie Kamin, Sallie Alcorn, and Julian Ramirez.
- The most frequent flyer on the city council was District J’s Edward Pollard.
- Half of the $32,000 he charged last year paid for travel — about $16,045.92.
- He took 12 flights to destinations including Washington, D.C., New York, Tampa and Guatemala, where he traveled with his chief of staff.
Koelling said some travel is reasonable when it attracts business and investment, but it must be for the right reasons.
“Sometimes you even go overseas to attract business and investment and all of that, I think, is a reasonable expense,” Koelling said. “Make sure you’re doing it for the right reasons. Not just a junket.”
Pollard declined to comment for this story. His chief of staff said the Guatemala trip was approved in 2023 under Mayor Sylvester Turner for travel in April 2024, but there is no written record of the trip’s purpose.
Constituents expressed mixed feelings about the spending.
“These flights are not benefiting our community at all,” one resident said.
Another said, “Is it illegal? Nope. If it’s not illegal, I don’t see the issue. As long as it’s not on her personal time to go on vacation or splurge or something like that, I wouldn’t see anything wrong with it.”
In May 2024, Thomas purchased a flight to Nassau Bay and paid a $750 deposit for a stay at the Atlantis Bahamas Resort. The trip coincided with her birthday in July, but the resort charge was credited back after she canceled.
Thomas said she canceled the trip because Hurricane Beryl hit days earlier, and she did not want to leave Houston while much of her district was still without power.
When asked about the city business she had in the Bahamas, Thomas said by phone it was a conference where she was asked to speak, but could not recall the organization’s name.
The event was the 46th annual Prairie View A&M alumni convention held at the Atlantis Bahamas Resort, where Thomas teaches graduate students in community development.
Thomas’s chief of staff emailed:
“CM Thomas did not travel to the Bahamas due to a natural disaster. Although the flight was booked, it was later reimbursed. At this point, we will no longer entertain additional scrutiny of line-item expenses based on the unfounded perception that Council Member Thomas lacks integrity.”
New city policy to oversee spending
At the end of 2024, Mayor John Whitmire created a new policy requiring prior approval before any council member pays for food or travel with city credit cards. This should ensure a record of the approval process.