CITY& COUNTY
News from Harris County & Jersey Village
COMPILED BY DANICA LLOYD
QUOTEOFNOTE “ONE OF THE EASIEST WAYS AHOMEOWNER CAN LOWER THEIR PROPERTY TAXBILL IS TO FILE AHOMESTEAD EXEMPTIONAND APPLY FORANY OTHER EXEMPTION THEYMIGHT BE ELIGIBLE FOR.” ROLAND ALTINGER, CHIEF APPRAISER FOR HARRIS COUNTY APPRAISAL DISTRICT LOCAL HIGHLIGHTS JERSEYVILLAGE At its Feb. 21 meeting, the Jersey Village City Council unanimously voted to authorize City Manager Austin Bleess to negotiate an agreement with FGM Architects for the design of a new Jersey Meadow Golf Course Club House. PGAL Inc. had previously designed a club house which was estimated to cost $7.5 million by 2021. Council members agreed in early January to design a new club house including a pro shop, offices, bar and grill, bathrooms and storage. The existed club house will be remodeled as an enclosed pavilion for events. City officials expect the contract with FGM Architects to come back in time for city council to vote on it at its March 21 meeting. Jersey Village City Council Will meet at 7 p.m. March 21 at 16327 Lakeview Drive, Jersey Village. • 713-466-2100. www.jerseyvillagetx.com Harris County Commissioners Court Will meet at 10 a.m. March 8 at 1001 Preston St., Ste. 934, Houston. 713-274-1111. www.harriscountytx.gov MEETINGSWE COVER HARRIS COUNTY Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner and Harris County Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia announced the creation of a Houston-Harris Special Events Task Force at a Feb. 9 press conference. The goal of the task force is to ensure consistent operations that are up to standard for all future events. The task force will be reviewing and improving communication, protocols and permit requirements within the city and county, Turner said. The creation of the task force comes after what Garcia described as a “tragedy” at the Astroworld music festival Nov. 5. However, Turner said he wants to look to the future instead of looking back on an individual incident.
Harris County approves budget emphasizing public safety
HARRIS COUNTY In a split vote Feb. 8, Harris County Commissioners Court approved a $1.3 billion budget for the next seven months as well as a preliminary $2.15 billion budget for the following 12 months. Harris County is changing its fiscal year to run from Oct. 1-Sept. 30. Commissioners approved in a 3-2 vote a “short fiscal year” budget for March 1-Sept. 30 and a “planning” budget for FY 2022-23. The FY 2022- 23 budget and tax rates are expected to be finalized in September. About 64% of each budget is ded- icated to justice and safety efforts, which includes law enforcement, courts, detention, indigent defense, the district attorney’s office and other county safety initiatives. The FY 2022-23 budget includes $1.38 billion for justice and safety programs. County Judge Lina Hidalgo said these investments will provide 400 vehicles for sheriffs and constables, salary increases and overtime pay for the district attorney’s office, constable pay increases, additional detention officers at the jail, additional sheriff patrol deputies, additional bailiffs for courts, nearly $1 million for constable patrol contracts and 35 more positions in the criminal investigations bureau of the sheriff’s office. This new budget builds on com- missioners’ ongoing efforts to reduce crime and support law enforcement agencies as the rate of violent gun-re- lated crime locally and nationally rises, Hidalgo said. “We cannot incarcerate our way out of this problem. Decades of failed criminal justice policies have wasted
billions of dollars focused on so-called ‘silver bullet’ solutions that sound good—like mass incarceration, like indiscriminate policing—while failing to address the root causes of crime and the root causes of the issues,” she said. Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia proposed an amendment to provide county sheriff and constable deputies with additional pay raises at the cost of $7 million. The two Republican commission- ers, Tom Ramsey of Precinct 3 and Jack Cagle of Precinct 4, opposed the budget after proposing their own alternate budget plans that ultimately did not move forward. Cagle’s approach was to use the county’s 2018 budget as a starting point and then add requests from the law enforcement agencies, he said, suggesting county government had expanded in the last three years and he would like to return to the basics of road maintenance, parks and public safety. Ramsey said he proposed logical cuts that would result in 500 new law enforcement positions. Harris County Administrator David Berry said more than 1,100 positions would have been eliminated in FY 2022-23 under these proposals. Ramsey released a statement Feb. 8 expressing his disappointment in the outcome of the budget approval. “They offered numerous amend- ments, but not one added even a single patrol officer protecting our neighborhoods. I am saddened by the direction the court majority chose to go, especially during these dangerous and violent times,” he said.
PLANNING AHEAD Because Harris County is in the process of changing its fiscal year, commissioners approved both a “short fiscal year” budget for the next seven months and a planning budget for fiscal year 2023 in February. Planning budget for fiscal year 2022-23
Environment $10 million
Housing $29 million
Economic opportunity $41 million
Transportation $76 million
Public health $81 million
Commissioners Court $160 million
Justice and safety $1.38 billion Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said provisions in the 2023 justice and safety budget will include: • 400 vehicles for sheriffs and constables • salary increases and overtime pay for the district attorney’s office • constable pay increases • additional detention officers at the jail, sheriff patrol deputies, and bailiffs for courts Governance and customer service $373 million
SOURCE: HARRIS COUNTY OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET/COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
JerseyVillage pursues newdevelopment partner for Village Center project JERSEY VILLAGE At its Feb. 21 meeting, Jersey
Collaborate was named developer in March 2019 and was slated to purchase the land from Jersey Village, but its partnership with the city ended in late 2021. General plans for the 43-acre project have included retail, restau- rants, office space, a hotel, an apartment complex, green space and the new Jersey Village City Hall.
KHJR has developed and operated several mixed-use developments. Bleess said the letter of intent is a nonbinding agreement that the frame- work for future negoti- ations the City Council would approve at a later date. Mayor Bobby Warren said council would likely not take further binding steps until next year.
VILLAGE CENTER The 43-acre property is located south of Hwy. 290 in Jersey Village.
Village City Council unani- mously voted to authorize City Manager Austin Bleess to sign a letter of intent with KHJR Real Estate Advisory Services relating to the develop- ment of the property off Jones Road on the south side of Hwy. 290 known as Village Center.
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CYPRESS EDITION • MARCH 2022
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