Government
BY ANGELA BONILLA, VANESSA HOLT & NICHAELA SHAHEEN
The Woodlands Township, Shenandoah and Oak Ridge North began discussing 2025-26 budget projections in July, with each entity projecting higher sales tax revenue but also expecting increases in some expenditures. The Woodlands held a budget initiative workshop July 23 for scal year 2026, which runs from January to December. The discussion addressed items that could be funded from sources outside of the township’s base budget such as the reserve. Township President and CEO Monique Sharp said the reserve balance from FY 2025 is $105.7 million. “Reserve funds are good to fund one- time capital purchases, so not ongoing operations. But that is some money that could be spent on the capital initiatives,” Sharp said. Recommendations for those additional budget items included increasing the number of contracted law enforcement ocers from 100 to 109. The total amounts discussed for law enforcement to fund additional ocers and other department needs are: • $1.2 million for Montgomery County Sheriff’s Ofice • $251,058 for Harris County Constable’s Ofice In addition, the township board discussed increasing the hours for Alpha & Omega Mounted Patrol by $638,252 from 387 to 595 hours per week. Specic costs for other initiatives were not discussed at the meeting for most other projects, aside from an estimated $3.5 million for fountain repairs. Budget workshops were held the week of Aug. 18, after press time. Township, cities eye FY 2025 26
Also of note
Shenandoah FY 202526 budget Police: 33% Fire services: 17% Nondepartmental: 15% Other: 11% Total: $12.38M
Initial projections show general fund revenues in Shenandoah potentially increasing from about $12.18 million to $12.38 million in FY 2025-26, including about a $100,000 increase in both expected sales tax and property tax revenue, according to city budget discussions at a July 23 meeting. The police department makes up one-third of proposed expenses for FY 2025-26, with a budget of $4.3 million, up from $4.1 million the previous year, according to city documents. Other projected departmental budgets included re services, which could increase from $2 million to $2.1 mil- lion, and public works, which could increase from
Public works: 10% Administration: 7% Technology: 7%
SOURCE: SHENANDOAHCOMMUNITY IMPACT
$1.18 million to $1.22 million, city ocials said. The 2024-25 tax rate was $0.1421 per $100 valuation, as previously reported by Community Impact . A 2025-26 tax rate was not yet approved as of press time.
What else?
the hiring of new Police Chief Kenneth Foulch July 14. “One of the things with not having the full sta yet is we want to increase overtime so the guys have an incentive to work extra shifts,” City Manager Heather Neeley said at a July 28 meeting. She said additional training for ocers is also needed in the budget. “Training and travel was increased by $10,000,” she said. “We had talked about ocers being undertrained or just not having opportunities within the department to grow, so [that is for] getting additional skills and things like that.”
Oak Ridge North ocial approved a no-new-rev- enue tax rate of $0.4268 per $100 valuation for FY 2025-26, which would be a decrease from the rate of $0.4408 per $100 valuation in FY 2024-25, according to discussion at an Aug. 11 meeting. According to city documents, a public hearing will not be needed for a no-new-revenue tax rate. The sales tax revenue for FY 2025-26 is projected to increase by $3.38 million based on current trends, with property tax revenues at at $1.22 million, city ocials said on July 28. The city’s police department is budgeted for a 3.3% increase in expenditures in FY 2025-26, as it is grappling with changes in its police force amid
Going forward
Budget timelines Oak Ridge North Aug. 25: Adoption of the 2025-26 budget planned The Woodlands Township Sept. 4: Budget meeting and possible public hearing on 2026 budget Montgomery County Sept. 5: Commissioners Court will vote on 2025-26 budget Shenandoah Sept. 10: Deadline for 2025-26 budget adoption
Montgomery County Commissioners Court on Aug. 14 unanimously approved a proposed tax rate of $0.3779 per $100 valuation for FY 2025-26, a slight decrease from the FY 2024- 25 tax rate of $0.3790 per $100 valuation. A public hearing and vote on the tax rate will be held at 9 a.m. Sept. 5. Budget workshops for FY 2025-26 were held Aug. 12-14, with topics including a pay parity plan for the Montgomery County Sheri’s Oce to make it more competitive with other law enforcement agencies in the region.
Estimated preliminary revenue increases in The Woodlands
FY 2025
FY 2026
Projected property tax revenue
$42.48M
$1.9M
$44.18M
Projected sales tax revenue
$77.45M
SOURCES: THE WOODLANDS TOWNSHIP, OAK RIDGE NORTH, SHENANDOAH, MONTGOMERY COUNTYCOMMUNITY IMPACT
$3.1M
$80.55M
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THE WOODLANDS EDITION
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