Department of Neighborhoods FY2027 Budget Presentation - May 15, 2026
Department of Neighborhoods FY2027 Budget Presentation - May 15, 2026
Meeting Overview
On May 15, 2026, the Houston City Council received the FY2027 budget presentation from the Department of Neighborhoods (DoN). Director Herbert Sims led the presentation, highlighting the department's partnerships, outreach, and alignment with the mayor's priorities. The proposed budget reflects a 9% increase over the FY26 adopted budget, primarily due to the inclusion of the Office for People with Disabilities and targeted reductions. Council members praised the department's work and engaged in discussion on language access, volunteer programs, and neighborhood initiatives. Two members of the public offered comments.
Budget Presentation Overview
- Strategic Alignment: Most programs align with the mayor's quality of life priority; human trafficking and gang prevention fall under public safety; administrative services make up 48% of the budget.
- Gap Elimination: The department implemented $286,000 in targeted reductions through operational efficiencies, including one vacant position, program expense adjustments, and reductions in community engagement and language access (software costs avoided). The Super Neighborhood Fund was reduced but retains $170,000, sufficient for planned grants and administration.
- Proposed Budget: FY27 proposed budget is 9% higher than FY26 adopted, with all funds allocated to the general fund. Personnel expenses account for 79% of the budget, with 12% for services, 8% restricted accounts, and 1% supplies.
- Program Expenditures: Major divisions include Community Engagement ($1.365M), Neighborhood Initiatives ($883K), Language Access ($438K), Human Trafficking ($243K), Office for People with Disabilities ($870K), and Office of Education and Youth Engagement ($238K).
- Performance Measures: Updated KPIs using the "turn the curve" process include tracking youth participation, volunteer contributions, language access training completion, and ADA outreach.
- Revenue: Funding for human trafficking/domestic violence programs comes from a settlement agreement via HPD; office for People with Disabilities expenditures are reimbursed via HPD Fund 2312; admin support revenue from TPIA requests.
Council Discussion
- Praise & Support: Council members expressed gratitude for the department's work, noting its presence in neighborhoods and responsiveness. Councilmember Romeris highlighted the renewal of the Language Access Coordinator position (Katie Fan) and the grant support from the Houston Endowment, thanking the original council sponsors.
- Pilot Program: Councilmember Thomas's office commended the "I Speak" program piloted at apartment inspection ordinance community meetings in District F, a multilingual district, and requested expansion.
- Volunteer Program: Director Sims explained the volunteer program coordinated by Roman Aguilar, using the Galaxy database via Volunteer Houston. The City of Houston volunteer page lists opportunities across departments. Councilmembers were encouraged to use the system for recruitment.
- Super Neighborhood Revitalization: Mayor Pro Tem's office thanked DoN for revitalizing Central Southwest Super Neighborhood #40 and advocated for dedicated code enforcement officers per district.
- General Appreciation: Vice Chair Castillo and others acknowledged the department's support for public safety roundtables, human trafficking efforts, neighborhood forums, and district activities.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Doug (Super Neighborhood representative): Expressed concern that super neighborhoods receive only $2,000 allocations; requested an additional $2,000 to cover expenses like a new email system. Asked for a breakdown of the 10 staff in the Mayor's Assistance Office. Noted uneven funding between the Office of Veterans Affairs (one staff) and the Office of People with Disabilities (five staff), advocating for more attention to veterans. Questioned the need for two separate departments (Office of Neighborhood Engagement and Mayor's Assistance Office) given similar goals; later noted he had received a written response addressing this.
- Laura Gallier: Expressed strong support for the gang prevention/credible messenger program, stating she has observed its positive impact through trainings and graduates. Requested continuation and expansion of the program. Noted she received a response about coordination with the health department and municipal courts.
Key Outcomes
- No formal votes or decisions were taken during the presentation. The director acknowledged council and public feedback. The proposed budget will move forward for further consideration. Public speakers requested additional funding for super neighborhood alliance and expanded gang prevention programming.
Meeting Transcript
All right, we are back for the Department of Neighborhoods budget presentation for 2027. And I welcome Director Herbert Sims and the floor is yours. All right. There we go. Can you hear me now? All right. Good morning. I want to thank y'all for your time on this Friday morning. I would like to start by recognizing the Department of Neighborhood staff who is joining us this morning behind us. Would y'all please stand? Don't just wave, stand up. So these individuals work in our neighborhoods and partners daily. They answer the calls from the community. They attend events and meetings in the evenings and on the weekends. They solve problems and remove obstacles to improve residents' lives and communities. They make it easier for residents to participate in government for them to be involved in their neighborhoods. When I tell you that we have collaborated with more than 200 partners, when I tell you that we have collaborated with 14 city departments, every council district, thank you so much for your collaboration and all you do to get us what we need. So now that I know you have other responsibilities, everybody's on this side. And commitments to get back to I won't take up too much of your time this morning, but you're welcome to go. But if you want to see me present, you're more than welcome to stay. But thank you guys so much for all you do. All right, we're gonna get started here. Council members, I would like to thank you for your support and partnership with our department. It is our honor to serve the city of Houston. As the Department of Neighborhoods moves forward and builds on partnerships and outreach we've established, we will continue to sharpen our focus on finding ways to help residents feel heard, included, and empowered. And with that, I'll begin my budget presentation. So please skip the strategic alignment side for me. So our work is centered around partnerships and collaborating with uh community stakeholders. As you can see on the first slide, most of our programs aligned with mayor's quality of life priority, with the exception of human trafficking and gain prevention and intervention, which fall under the public safety uh priority. The government that works priority, administrative services is about 48% of our budget because it includes all indirect restricted and department costs that supports other programs. Next slide. So our plans to eliminate the gap. Um the department uh implemented about 286,000 in targeted reductions through operational efficiencies. These reductions included one vacant position, adjustments to program expenses, focus reductions in community engagement and language access, which included language access software we anticipated needing, but um we were able to um achieve our goal without that hardware and software. We also um have reductions in super neighborhood fund, but it still leaves us 170,000 to work with our neighborhoods. We spend 100,000 about each year, so we have plenty of dollars to expand that program and to offer more um super neighborhoods grants as well as administrative costs as we move forward in FY27. Um these actions were taken without compromising course service delivery, and so um we will be able to get our core services completed with these reductions. Next slide. On this side, you'll see that our FY27 proposed budget reflects a 9% increase over 26 adopted budget. This variance is primarily due to the inclusion of the reduction impacts and the full accounting for the Office for People with Disabilities expenditures, which were not included in last year's budget. And as you can see, all funds are allocated to the general fund. We do not have um any other fund in the department of neighborhoods. Next slide. So here, personnel versus non-personnel. I'm sure this has been quite redundant with you all. We're about 79% personnel, one percent supplies, 12% services, and 8% in restricted accounts in the department. Next slide. So here you see expenditures by program. Um, this slide illustrates the expenditures by program. You can see the reduction in community engagement, which I explained before, which is our super neighborhood fund, as well as an FTE that we um through the department reorganization and the volunteer retirement move to the New Americans division out of MAO.
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