Conroe - Montgomery Edition | August 2023

CITY & COUNTY

News from Conroe, Montgomery & Montgomery County

HIGHLIGHTS MONTGOMERY City officials approved the committee charter to create the Montgomery Transportation Advisory Committee at a July 25 City Council meeting after City Administrator Gary Palmer expressed interest in finding a better way to evaluate, collaborate and plan for future transportation needs. According to the agenda packet, the purpose of the Montgomery Transportation Advisory Committee is to help advise City Council and the city administrator on all issues and/or projects related to mobility. MONTGOMERY COUNTY A list of 16 major road projects in Montgomery County was approved by Commissioners Court on Aug. 1 in a call for projects by the Houston- Galveston Area Council to fund over the next 10 years. The H-GAC provided a list of the 16 projects to be fully funded by the Texas Department of Transportation as they are developed over the next 10 years. After approving the list, the H-GAC will submit the project to TxDOT for funding and letting with a goal of having all 16 projects underway within 10 years. The list of projects includes I-45 widening, FM 1314 lane expansion, FM 1488 widening and FM 830 lane expansion. MEETINGS WE COVER Montgomery County Commissioners Court will meet at 9:30 a.m. Sept. 12. 501 N. Thompson St., Ste. 402, Conroe. 936-756-0571. www.mctx.org Conroe City Council will meet at 9:30 a.m. Aug. 24 and 6 p.m. Sept. 14. 300 W. Davis St.,

Montgomery County looks to bond, certificates amid funding issues

NAVIGATING SHORTFALLS Montgomery County saw a drop in property value heading into its 2023-24 budget preparations. Montgomery County FY 2023-24: $2.37B property value loss Translates to : $8.8M

BY JESSICA SHORTEN

increases, following a $2.3 billion property tax value loss. To cover expenses, commissioners approved Aug. 10 a tax rate of $0.3696 per $100 valuation. While the tax rate is slightly lower than the FY 2022-23 tax rate of $0.3742, it is still above the no-new-revenue rate, which means residents who experienced higher tax appraisals this year will see higher property tax bills. What they’re saying: “I think we need some type of a bond if we’re going to be doing this sort of thing and plan on it next year to be able to fix the things that need to be fixed around here,” Keough said. “We’ve kicked all this can down the road so many times.” What’s next: The court directed Jason Millsaps, chief of staff for Keough, to bring an item on the

MONTGOMERY COUNTY At an Aug. 9 budget workshop, Montgom- ery County commissioners discussed a potential infrastructure bond mea- sure as well as issuing certificates of obligation to cover major projects as the county already stands $7 million over budget. What you need to know: Precinct 3 Commissioner James Noack pro- posed the county seek certificates of obligation, or COs, to cover a number of capital improvement projects. County Judge Mark Keough countered the idea with holding an infrastructure bond election. The breakdown: Montgomery County approved a tax rate higher than the no-new-revenue rate to fund over $7.9 million in budget expenses, such as personnel and countywide salary

in lost property tax revenue Proposed FY 2023 budget: $328.94M Increase from FY 2022-23: $7.9M Proposed tax rate: $0.3696 per $100 valuation No-new-revenue tax rate: $0.3479 per $100 valuation

SOURCE: MONTGOMERY COUNTY/COMMUNITY IMPACT

next Commissioners Court agenda to outline bond and CO proposals. A public hearing on the tax rate and budget will be held Aug. 30.

Conroe no longer projecting shortfall in FY 2023-24, proposes tax rate

BY LIZZY SPANGLER

in expenditures for FY 2023-24. Boothe said one of the changes to the proposed budget is updated property tax values. The certified assessed valuation is $14.35 billion; the preliminary value used was $13.86 billion. How we got here: According to Boothe’s presentation, other changes to the proposed budget include: • splitting the $300,000 proposed for Veteran’s Memorial Park into two fiscal years • moving the $210,000 arts and culture grant from the general fund to the hotel occupancy tax fund

CONROE The city of Conroe is no longer projecting a $1.4 million budget shortfall in fiscal year 2023-24, said Col- lin Boothe, director of finance and assistant city administra- tor. Boothe presented a budget update during the Council’s Aug. 9 workshop meeting. Council also approved proposing a tax rate of $0.4272 per $100 valuation on Aug. 10. This is the same tax rate the city has for FY 2022-23.

Conroe. 936-522-3010. www.cityofconroe.org

Montgomery City Council will meet at 6 p.m. Sept. 12. 101 Old Plantersville Road, Montgomery. 936-597-6434. www.montgomerytexas.gov

In a nutshell: The city of Conroe is now proposing $124 million in general fund revenues and $122 million

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CONROE - MONTGOMERY EDITION • AUGUST 2023