HOUSTON – Harris County Treasurer Carla Wyatt asked Thursday for her salary to be increased to $305,000, arguing she deserves to be paid the same as other countywide elected officials even as county leaders pursue an effort to eliminate her position.
Wyatt initially filed a salary grievance seeking at least $250,000, but increased that request during a meeting of the county’s Salary Grievance Committee.
Recommended Videos
“I did file a grievance for $250,000. I’m formally making a motion to move that to $305,000 just like the other elected officials,” Wyatt told the committee. “I’m a county elected official. The people of Harris County put me here and so I plan to continue to serve them in this capacity.”
County officials discussed the office’s scaled-back responsibilities and efforts to eliminate the position.
Wyatt added, “I’m asking for an increase of my salary to $305,000 just like the other countywide elected officials and I don’t intend to be disrespected.”
Wyatt currently earns $139,547, meaning her requested salary would represent an increase of more than $165,000, or about 119%.
The committee did not recommend giving Wyatt the full amount she requested. Instead, it recommended a 30% salary increase, which would bring her pay to approximately $181,400.
The request comes after Harris County commissioners approved increasing the salaries of several other elected officials to $305,000 for the upcoming fiscal year. The proposed increases include the elected constables, County Clerk, District Clerk and Tax Assessor-Collector, whose salaries would increase from $179,421 to $305,000. The County Attorney and District Attorney would increase from $217,485 to $305,000.
Wyatt was not included among those proposed increases.
Treasurer’s office faces uncertain future
The salary dispute comes as Harris County leaders are simultaneously pursuing an effort to abolish the elected Treasurer’s Office.
Commissioners have argued that many of the office’s duties could be performed elsewhere in county government. Eliminating the position would require action beyond Commissioners Court, including approval from voters.
Earlier this year, commissioners also moved a key financial safeguard known as Positive Pay out of the Treasurer’s Office and into the county’s Office of Management and Budget.
Despite the transfer of that responsibility and the effort to eliminate the elected office, Harris County’s proposed FY2027 budget would actually increase funding for the Treasurer’s Office.
The office’s proposed budget is about $2.07 million, up from approximately $1.84 million in FY2026, an increase of roughly 13%.
The Treasurer’s Office continues to perform other financial duties for the county.
Debate comes during tight county budget
The salary debate is also unfolding as Harris County considers a budget that could mean higher property tax bills for homeowners.
The county’s proposed FY2027 budget assumes a property tax rate that would generate approximately $2.42 billion for the General Fund. Under the budget’s assumptions, the county portion of the property tax bill for an average homestead would increase from approximately $1,202 to $1,350 — or $148, about 12.3%. That estimate does not include separate taxes for Harris Health, the Flood Control District or the Port of Houston.
The county has been wrestling with rising costs. During development of the proposed budget, officials identified a projected General Fund shortfall that at one point reached approximately $181 million.