BY DAVE MANNING & KELLY SCHAFLER
Quotes of note
What’s being done
Overall, Sjoka said community, education and business leaders together created an environment that has consistently brought jobs to Katy. “Katy [community leaders] started the Katy [Area] Economic Development Council, … [which began] working with businesses and working with school districts and working with colleges,” Sjoka said. “They have brought job after job after job to Katy.” As a nonpro t public-private partnership, the WCEDP has worked with existing businesses and those wanting to move into the county, which in turn increases the population and drives residential and retail development, Yokom said. Some of those businesses the group has brought to the county are Amazon, Goya Foods and Weatherford, an oil and gas services company, according to the WCEDP. The economic development has resulted
in rising tax revenues for the county, with data from the EDP showing a 355% increase in property tax revenue from EDP projects between calendar years 2015-23.
“We’re not overly regulated [in Waller County], and that leads to a very predictable and business-
friendly environment.” VINCE YOKOM, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, WALLER COUNTY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PARTNERSHIP
Waller County property tax revenue from EDP projects
$8M
$6M
“The [mobility] projects in the north Katy area ... were identi ed because we have a lot of new
$4M
$2M
development and new subdivisions going in.” ROSS MCCALL, WALLER COUNTY ENGINEER
$0
SOURCE: WALLER COUNTY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PARTNERSHIP COMMUNITY IMPACT
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KATY NORTH EDITION
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