Houston Taxpayers on the Hook for $24,400

Truth in Accounting released their annual report on the debt for America’s 10 largest cities. The City Combined Taxpayer Burden Report includes the city’s largest underlying government units, such as counties and school districts. With the exception of New York City, most municipalities do not include in their annual financial reports the finances of large, underlying government units for which city taxpayers are also responsible. When adding the Taxpayer Burden of these underlying government units with the city and state Taxpayer Burden, it is clear that the debt is much greater than what one would assume.

The city of Houston has a total debt of nearly $12,000 per taxpayer, plus the entwined debt of independent school districts and Houston’s community colleges. Houston taxpayers are also on the hook for the state’s debt of $11,300 each. This means that each Houston taxpayer is on the hook for $24,400 to cover city, county, school district, and state debts.

The city does not have enough money to cover its bills, including the bills of its underlying government units. Houston taxpayers are on the hook for nearly double of what taxpayers in Phoenix would have to pay to get their city and underlying governments out of debt.

This report analyzes the fiscal health of the 10 most populous U.S. cities pre-COVID-19. In conclusion, Truth in Accounting’s analysis aims to help readers understand the implications of city, county, and underlying governmental units’ debts, which creates high levels of Taxpayer Burdens for individuals living within cities that need proper resources to function and stay afloat. Overall, this report highlights the financial struggles each city went into the pandemic with and we can assume the fiscal health of these cities worsened during the pandemic.

Anna D'Aprile is a Press and Communications intern at Truth in Accounting