Tomball - Magnolia Edition | September 2022

GOVERNMENT Montgomery County approves $397 million FY 2022-23 budget

Over 40% of Montgomery County’s fiscal year 2022-23 expenditures will go to law enforcement, according to the budget adopted Aug. 26.

MONTGOMERY COUNTY SPENDING

KEY

Law enforcement

General government

Debt service

Transportation

Legal and judicial

Financial administration

Culture and recreation

Health and human services

BY JISHNU NAIR

McRae, the FY 2022-23 no-new-reve- nue rate was $0.3312. County officials previously cited a 5% increase in the cost of living as one factor leading to the calcu- lated rate. Other factors included a planned renegotiation in the county’s interlocal agreement for law enforcement services for The Woodlands Township. Inside the budget A total of 43.8% of the county budget’s general funding will be aimed at law enforcement, according to the county. While the total of $174.1 million is an increase from the previous year’s total of $170.9 million, law enforcement makes up a slightly smaller percentage of the budget in the new fiscal year. In addition, two new departments will receive budgets of over $500,000 each. The payroll department, which was created March 8 following the removal of some of County Treasurer Melanie Bush’s duties, has a budget of $597,743 and five employees. County Budget Officer Amanda Carter said the cost of the payroll department “did not even out” with positions set to be removed from the treasurer’s department. Bush’s department budget was reduced from $848,077 to $611,665. The other new department is the County Court at Law 6, which received $693,805 and five employ- ees. Judge Scharlene Valdez was sworn in Aug. 15 and began hearing cases Sept. 1.

FY 2021-22

Montgomery County’s approved fiscal year 2022-23 budget prioritizes funding law enforcement, including additional positions for the sheriff’s office and several county consta- bles. The $397 million budget was approved unanimously by commis- sioners at an Aug. 26 special session for the fiscal year from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30, 2023. County Judge Mark Keough, who had been absent for several work- shops due to illness but viewed the proceedings virtually, told Com- munity Impact Newspaper that the budget focuses on law enforcement, especially on the county’s shared border with Harris County. “My emphasis is on law enforce- ment, and [The Woodlands Township contract], which we had figured into the budget, is a huge expense, and that was part of it,” Keough said. The county budget will be funded by a $0.3742 per $100 valuation prop- erty tax rate. This rate is a decrease from the preliminary rate approved Aug. 9, which was $0.3764, as well as a $0.03 decrease from the previous year’s rate, according to data from the county tax office. However, the county was required by law to call the special session after the proposed tax rate exceeded its effective or no-new-revenue tax rate, which would produce the same amount of property tax revenue if applied to the same properties taxed in both years. According to county Tax Assessor-Collector Tammy

3.46%

4.03%

46%

KEY INCREASES FOR FY 2022-23

4.25%

8.93%

GENERAL GOVERNMENT: +$10.6 million for capital improvement, vehicle, employee raises LEGAL AND JUDICIAL: +$2.8 million for County Court at Law 6 and District Attorney's Office HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES: +$2.5 million for forensic services positions and raises

1

$373.24M

10%

12%

2

12%

FY 2022-23

3.9%

3

4.1%

43.79%

4.87% 9.11%

3

2

LAW ENFORCEMENT: +3.2 million for law

4

4

$397.77M

9.26%

enforcement, which represents 2.2% less of the total budget in 2022-23

1

11%

14%

MONTGOMERY COUNTY TAXABLE VALUES VS. PROPERTY TAX RATES Montgomery County’s adopted tax rates have declined since FY 2018-19 as taxable property value has increased. However, the FY 2022-23 rate is above the no-new- revenue rate, meaning it generates more revenue than the previous year.

TAXABLE PROPERTY VALUE

TAX RATE (PER $100 VALUATION)

2018-19

2019-20

2020-21

2021-22

2022-23

2018-19

2019-20

2020-21

2021-22

2022-23

SOURCE: MONTGOMERY COUNTY/COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER

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TOMBALL - MAGNOLIA EDITION • SEPTEMBER 2022

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