The Woodlands Edition | September 2023

From the cover

The Woodlands Township investing $29.7M in capital improvements

2024 major capital improvements in The Woodlands

Two-minute impact

The Woodlands Fire Department projects: $13 million • Rebuild of A Station No. 5 on McBeth Way • Renovation of B Emergency Training Center

With $29.7 million in capital improvement projects scheduled for 2024, The Woodlands Township board members said they are looking to do more with less money over the next year. The Woodlands Fire Department will rebuild Fire Station No. 5 due to structural issues with the existing building. The Emergency Training Center, which provides training grounds for local re departments, will also see improvements such as additional bathrooms and showers. Restroom replacement and construction is also planned in a number of the parks, including Alden Bridge Sports Park. The park is ready to enter a new phase of development over the next ve years for revamped elds, lighting and capacity expansion, Chief Operating Ocer Chris Nunes said. “We will probably run out of some money as we get into [building] the bathrooms because we wanted to get a lot of these projects underway,” Nunes said. In addition to those projects, funds are being directed to community services projects, such as additional recreation and public works facilities, and increased reforestation eorts aiming to replace trees lost to drought or other causes.

MCBETH WAY

The current Fire Station No. 5 on Branch Crossing Drive will be replaced by a new station starting construction in 2024.

WOODLANDS PKWY.

VANESSA HOLTCOMMUNITY IMPACT

Comprehensive community services $4 million

Park needs assessment $3.5 million • Alden Bridge Sports Park ield expansion and renovation • Public restrooms in area parks • Additional lighting and safety provisions

Reforestation $1 million • Efforts doubling to 6,000 trees a year • Township will track trees cut and trees planted

• Supplemental funding for Town Center maintenance • Cofunding recreational facilities with The Woodlands Development Corporation • Use of 24 acres of Bear Branch Park for public works

SOURCE: THE WOODLANDS TOWNSHIPCOMMUNITY IMPACT

A closer look

Change in The Woodlands Township tax rate

A record number of property value lawsuits against the Montgomery Central Appraisal District in 2022 and 2023 along with homestead exemp- tions withheld by MCAD caused a $2.3 billion loss in property tax value that will cause budget issues in scal years 2024-25 for local taxing entities, county Tax Assessor-Collector Tammy McRae said. However, township ocials said the value loss will not have as large an impact on the township as it will other taxing entities. “We have ... accounted for all of the [lawsuits] that have been settled, and we have allowed for an uncollectable rate for the ones that are pending,” Sharp said. The no-new-revenue rate of $0.1714 per $100 of home valuation approved by the township board allows it to collect the same amount of property tax revenue as the previous year. The projected growth of hotel and sales tax revenues have also been a boon to the township, Sharp said. Sales tax revenue grew from $55.06 million to $75.69 million from 2019 to 2024, and hotel property tax revenue grew by $3 million.

$0.22

$0.25 $0.2 $0.15

$0.17

$0.1

$0.05

2020

2021

2022

2023

2024

Fiscal year (Jan.-Dec.)

Change in The Woodlands Township revenue

Property tax

Sales tax

Hotel tax

Other revenues

$200M

$159.95M

$128.22M

$150M

$100M

$50M

2019