At the beginning of the year, Harris County officials boasted about having a $5.1 million surplus. Now, they are staring at a $15.7 million dollar deficit.
So what happened? Like the old saying goes, it all starts at the top, with Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo.
"I blame a lot of it on her agenda" said Charles Blain, president of Urban Reform, "We've seen a number of programs that she has personally wanted for the county to rollout, so I would put a lot of this at her feet."
The bottom line is, so of those radical left pet projects need to be cut, and local Democrats need to get their priorities straight.
"20 million dollars on the 'Uplift Harris' program using federal money that I would says is lottery socialism, might not stack up to the priority of law enforcement that's causing you to have a $15 million dollar deficit."
When you add it all up, Hidalgo and the Harris County Democrats have two options. They can either cut wasteful spending, or raise taxes.
"I think the first answer is to set the priorities before raising taxes" senator Bettencourt told KTRH, "But that's their vote."
The people of Harris County will be watching.