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Following months-long spats about how to bridge a $200 million gap in the county’s budget, the Harris County Commissioners Court has approved a $2.8 billion budget for the 2026 fiscal year.

Commissioners Lesley Briones, Tom Ramsey and Adrian Garcia voted in favor of the county’s budget during Wednesday’s court meeting. Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, who has said that it will strike essential county services, and Commissioner Rodney Ellis voted against the budget. Their opposition was fueled by the approving commissioners’ motion earlier this year to increase wages for county law enforcement.

Hidalgo has said the boosted pay wages force funding cuts to essential services in order to balance the looming budget deficit. Commissioners who approved the budget — at one point

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