Houston finance offices differ on $25 million TERS 24 transfer as quarterly report is presented

Deputy Controller Will Jones and the Finance Department offered differing projections of the city’s FY2025 general fund balance at the Budget & Fiscal Affairs Committee meeting on April 29, 2025, centering on whether a roughly $25.2 million transfer tied to the “TERS 24” increment should be returned to the general fund.

Jones, presenting the controller’s quarterly financial report for the period ending March 31, 2025, said the controller’s office projects an ending general fund balance of $2,444,700,000, or 9.4% of expenditures excluding debt service and pay‑as‑you‑go. That figure is $136,100,000 lower than the Finance Department’s projection, Jones said, and the difference reflects a combination of lower revenue and higher expenditure assumptions in the controller’s estimate.

The discrepancy is largely explained by how each office treats a TERS 24 increment transfer. "There’s this TERS 24 increment clawback," Jones said, and the controller’s office is "holding our projections, pending further review of the city charter language with legal" before recognizing the transfer to the general fund.

Why it matters

The committee was told the contested increment transfer could affect how much revenue is counted as available for FY2025 and how close the city is to its voter‑approved Prop 1 property‑tax cap. Finance included the transfer in its projection; the controller has not. Committee members pressed staff to return to legal for a written analysis of timing and authority.

Key figures and staff explanations

Melissa Dubowsky, director of the Finance Department, told the committee the department’s FY2025 projection is based on nine months of actuals and three months of projected results. Finance projects an ending…