Government
BY ANGELA BONILLA & JESSICA SHORTEN
Board approves $1M in town hall upgrades The Woodlands Township board of direc- tors approved a number of improvements to the township’s main oce building on Aug. 23. What happened Board members approved $1.04 million for improvements to refurbish multiple rooms for Information Technology and Visit The Woodlands sta . William Pham, director of Information Technology for the township, told board members the construction will begin in late September and will be completed by January. Township President and CEO Monique Sharp also told board members future improvements for the main conference rooms and board meeting room would be proposed once the rst round of renova- tions are complete. approved tax rate means an average tax bill of $571.49, or an increase of 4.18% from the previous year, according to city documents. The FY 2023-24 tax rate was $0.1449 per $100 valuation, and the appraised taxable value in the city was $1.47 billion, while in FY 2024-25 the tax- able value in the city is $1.56 billion, Shenandoah ocials said at the meeting. “Revenues in general stayed pretty stagnant,” Finance Director Lisa Wasner said. “The only ones that we did have decrease is obviously with build- ing permits [as] we don’t have a lot of commercial development going on.”
Underground sinkhole causes $828K in damage Oak Ridge North City Council members approved a $45,242 expense Aug. 12 following Southern Montgomery County Municipal Utility District’s discovery of a sinkhole that caused damage to the main sewer line for the city in the vicinity of the wastewater treatment plant. What’s happening SMCMUD General Manager Kim Wright presented the issue during the council meeting Aug. 12; she said the sinkhole caused a need for “emergency repairs” to prevent a loss in service. Wright said the emergency repair cost around $34,000, but further damage was found which will require additional projects to prevent more emer- gency repairs, including rehabilitating 14 manhole covers and 1,700 linear feet of iron pipe. “We have some signicant deterioration in this area, and so we have dened a project for this next scal year to start addressing this area,” Wright said. New Fire Station No. 5 breaks ground on site The rebuild of Fire Station No. 5 in The Woodlands kicked o Aug. 22 following a groundbreaking ceremony. How we got here The township board of directors approved $12 million to rebuild the station in January 2023, but supply chain and weather delays pushed the start date back several times. The board approved a nal contract with Brookstone Construction on Aug. 23 with a guaranteed maximum price of $12.1 million. Fire Chief Palmer Buck said the project will take around 14 months to complete.
Sinkhole location
SPRING RIDGE DR.
45
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What’s next? The funding approved by council will go toward a $138,920 engineering study performed on behalf of SMCMUD to determine the best course of action for repairs. Wright said she will come back before the city once a construction bid is complete to provide the city’s expenses for the reconstruction of the pipe- line. Wright said the total construction estimate is roughly $828,000. Council approved the expense and requested the additional information regarding the city’s share to be presented at a future meeting. Shenandoah sets tax rate Shenandoah City Council approved a tax rate of $0.1421 per $100 valuation at its Aug. 28 meeting for the scal year 2024-25 budget. The tax rate will remain below the level at which the city would need to seek voter approval. What to know The FY 2023-24 average taxable homestead value in the city was $378,595, meaning an average city tax bill of $548.58, according to information from the city. The FY 2024-25 average taxable homestead value is $402,176, which under the
Lower tax rate
Tax rate per $100 valuation
Tax base (in billions)
Fiscal year 2023-24 Tax rate: $0.1449 per $100 valuation Taxable value: $1.47B Fiscal year 2024-25 Tax rate: $0.1421 per $100 valuation Taxable value: $1.56B
-1.93%
+6.12%
$2B
$0.15
0 $0.5B $1B $1.5B
$0.1
$0.05
0
2023-24
2023-24 2024-25
2024-25
N
SOURCE: CITY OF SHENANDOAHCOMMUNITY IMPACT
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THE WOODLANDS EDITION
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