Government
BY TOMER RONEN & AUBREY VOGEL
Missouri City proposes flat tax rate Missouri City residents are expected to see a $0.570825 per $100 valuation tax rate for the third year in a row after council approved the preliminary rate Aug. 18. Chief Budget & Performance Officer Bertha Alexander said the tax is comprised of the: • Maintenance and operations tax rate, which funds day-to-day operations, at $0.455029 • Interest and sinking tax rate, which funds debt, at $0.115796 The proposed fiscal year 2025-26 tax rate is below the no-new-revenue rate of $0.577832 and voter-approval tax rate of $0.600699. Going forward A tax rate public hearing will be held at a Sept. 15 City Council meeting, followed by budget and tax rate approval. County to accept redistricting proposals Fort Bend County commissioners will allow the public and county officials to submit redistricting maps for review. At an Aug. 12 meeting, Fort Bend County commis- sioners voted 3-2 to approved a resolution adopting criteria for redistricting. The resolution requires new maps to avoid racial gerrymandering and must follow “easily” identifiable geographic boundaries, according to agenda documents. Redistricting will be led by the county’s Citizens Redistricting Advisory Committee appointed at the July 22 meeting after state Rep. Matt Morgan, R-Richmond said the county’s voter precincts during the November election did not meet state population requirements. What else The resolution also affords incumbent office holders assurance that they will continue to represent the majority of individuals who elected them and their residential location will be retained in their reformed precincts, according to agenda documents.
Sugar Land approves $3.85M police building design At an Aug. 19 meeting, Sugar Land City Council unanimously approved a $3.85 million contract with architecture firm PGAL, Inc. to design a new police department building and renovate the existing police building. The plan includes funds to design a new 50,000-square-foot police department building next to the existing building, said Lane Wolf, senior manager of ver- tical construction for the city of Sugar Land. Meanwhile, renovations will cover approximately 43,000 square feet, expand courts on the first floor and renovate the second floor. What’s next The design process is expected to take 12 to 14 months, officials said. The $63 million construction contract is anticipated to take 18 to 20 months.
Redistricting plan submission requirements
A submission process will be established by the Citizens Redistricting Advisory Committee. should not deviate by more than 10% between the largest and smallest district. • Commissioner districts should be contiguous. • Neighborhoods and census blocks should not be split, if possible. Any submitted plans must consist of all four precincts and be made using 2020 census data, according to agenda documents. Other key guidelines include: • Commissioner district populations
SOURCE: FORT BEND COUNTY/COMMUNITY IMPACT
Looking ahead The committee’s first official meeting was slated for Sept. 8 after press time. The committee also plans to hold four public meetings—one in each commissioner precinct—to gather community input, although a schedule has not been finalized, committee Chair Jacob Lee said.
Greater Houston area tax rates, FY 2024-25* Sugar Land had the lowest tax rate of neighboring cities in fiscal year 2024-25.
$0.8
$0.570825
$0.6
$0.635 $0.66
$0.514172
$0.4
$0.369
$0.35321
$0.2
$0
Pearland Richmond Sugar Land
Missouri City
Friendswood League City
*PER $100 VALUATION
SOURCE: CITY OF MISSOURI CITY/COMMUNITY IMPACT
Sugar Land proposes 1-cent tax rate increase Sugar Land residents could see a 1-cent tax rate increase for fiscal year 2025-26. The tax rate proposal, approved Aug. 19, increases the total tax rate by $0.01 to $0.36321 per $100 valuation. The increase is attributed to the $350 million general obligation bond approved by voters in November 2024, officials said.
At the proposed tax rate, the average home in Sugar Land—valued at $522,316—would see a $95 annual tax increase, a 6.2% increase from last year, according to agenda documents. Zooming in The proposed tax rate, which is below the no-new-revenue tax rate of $0.367991 and voter approval tax rate of $0.372420, was approved 6-1, with council member Sanjay Singhal dissenting. What’s next Tax rate adoption is scheduled for Sept. 16.
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SUGAR LAND - MISSOURI CITY EDITION
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