The Woodlands edition | May 2022

The Woodlands Township board of directors will meet at 6 p.m. May 19 and 25 at 2801 Technology Forest Blvd., The Woodlands. 281-210-3800. www.thewoodlands-tx.gov Shenandoah City Council will meet at 7 p.m. May 11 and 25 at 29955 I-45 N., Shenandoah. 281-298-5522. www.shenandoahtx.us MEETINGSWE COVER HARRIS COUNTY Three Harris County senior employees are facing indictments for the felony charges of misuse of official information and tampering with records as of April 11, according to Harris County District Clerk online records. The indictments come one month after search warrants were first executed in connection with a controversial county contract. Aaron Dunn, Wallis Nader and Alex Triantaphyllis are each facing warrants for their arrests for the criminal charges, according to the district clerk’s records. NUMBER TOKNOW road projects are planned by the Texas Department of Transportation in The Woodlands through 2027, including two road widening projects, a plan to install medians on a portion of FM 1488 and several roadway improvements on a portion of I-45. Public meetings about the projects will be scheduled in July, officials said. 4 “WE JUST HEARD ABOUT INCREASES IN INFLATIONAND APPRAISALS; WHY CAN’TWE LEAVE THE [TOLL] RATES THE SAME?” MARK KEOUGH, MONTGOMERY COUNTY JUDGE QUOTEOFNOTE CITY HIGHLIGHTS OAKRIDGENORTH The City Council approved using $18,000 with funds budgeted by the Oak Ridge North Economic Development Corp. for a slide replacement at Marilyn Edgar Park. Council discussed whether it could reimburse the funds with money from American Rescue Plan Act funds but approved the EDC funds at the April 25 meeting.

Shenandoah sets budget calendar

BY ANDREW CHRISTMAN

Council will potentially adopt the budget Aug. 24.

SHENANDOAH The dates for budget discussions and workshops going into fiscal year 2022-23 were unanimously approved by Shenandoah City Council during an April 27 meeting. The first budget discussions are set to begin May 11, focusing on capital improvement plans. Discus- sions will continue on several dates until Aug. 5, when official budget workshops will be held. On Aug. 5, the City Council will discuss the city’s tax rate and vote if it proposes to adopt a rate higher than the no-new-revenue tax rate, which is the rate at which the same amount of tax revenue is generated as the previous year. According to the budget calendar, the Shenandoah City

MEETINGS SET Budget meetings are scheduled through August in Shenandoah.

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Capital improvement discussions begin MAY 11

Departmental meetings JUNE 22, JULY 13, JULY 27

Budget workshop AUG. 5

Budget adoption AUG. 24

SOURCE: CITY OF SHENANDOAH/COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER

Toll road rate increase to begin in January

BY JISHNU NAIR

submitted to the Commissioners Court agenda by county Budget Officer Amanda Carter, the payroll department—referred to as department 3800 in the county’s budgeting system— will receive over $200,000 in salary and benefits with the remainder going to supplies and travel expenses. The $271,289.15 was taken from Metts’ department budget, or department 9400, according to the same documents. County Judge Mark Keough previously told Com- munity Impact Newspaper the new department would be cost neutral to the county. Montgomery County Judge Mark Keough supported the date change, but said it was necessary to address toll rates at a future session. “We just heard about increases in inflation and appraisals; why can’t we leave the rates the same?” he said. Castañeda said the move will bring the toll road authority in line with other toll authorities, which increase their rates in January, such as the Harris County Toll Road Authority.

MONTGOMERY COUNTY During a session for the Montgomery County Toll Road Authority at the April 26 Montgomery County Commissioners Court meeting, commissioners voted to move the toll road authority’s rate increase date to Jan. 1, 2023. Rates previously increased the first Saturday after Labor Day, according to MCTRA Operations Manager Robert Castañeda.

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Payroll department transition continues

BY JISHNU NAIR

MONTGOMERY COUNTY Com- missioners in Montgomery County allocated $271,289 toward its new payroll department at an April 12 Commissioners Court meeting. The payroll department was created after commissioners voted to strip Montgomery County Treasurer Melanie Bush of her pay- roll-related duties March 8, alleging repeated errors. According to budget documents

Oak Ridge North City Council will meet at 7 p.m. May 23 at 27424 Robinson Road, Oak Ridge North. 281-292-4648. www.oakridgenorth.com

THE WOODLANDS EDITION • MAY 2022