GOVERNMENT Sales tax revenue rising in Shenandoah BY ANDREWCHRISTMAN
Tax rate rising
New expenses and flat sales tax projections resulted in a proposed tax increase in The Woodlands.
for around , each. The new positions include a building and re inspector, a utilities and maintenance supervisor, and two patrol ocers. The Shenandoah Police Depart- ment’s requests include two new o- cers and increases in several categories of budgeted overtime pay as part of a , annual budget increase—the largest of any city department. “We noticed the excess overtime last year, and we said, ‘We can hire two new ocers with just the overtime pay.’ And now overtime is increased,” Council Member Michael McLeod said. “The idea was, we’d hire our new ocers, and overtime would go down because we’d be more eectively stang positions without overtime.” At its Aug. meeting, the city also added , to replace overhead power lines in parts of the city in response to ongoing power outages. The tax rate will be adopted aer a Sept. public hearing.
Proposed 2019-20 tax rate: $0.23 per $100 valuation
The city of Shenandoah’s scal year - budget projects an expected .% increase in revenue due to higher sales tax collections and includes no expected increase to the local property tax rate of . per valuation. The rate is below the eective tax rate of . , which would raise the same amount of revenue as the previous year. Based on the city’s preliminary budget outline, spending in FY - could increase by about . %— from . million to . million. Revenue is expected to grow from . million to . million, mainly due to an estimated , jump in sales tax revenue. Some of the largest spending increases in - are expected to come from the community devel- opment, public works and police departments, all of which requested the addition of new sta members
Projected 2020:
$130million $125.1million
Revenue
Expenditures
New costs in 2020:
Revenue sources in 2019-20: • Property tax: $47.1million • Sales tax: $54.5million
• $1.6million:
new solid waste management costs
• Hotel occupancy tax: $9.7million • Recreational programs: $6.2million • Bus fares: $3.6million • Grants: $3.1million • Event admission tax: $1.4million • Other: $4.4million
• $1.1million:
streetscaping costs shifted to township
SOURCE:THEWOODLANDSTOWNSHIP/COMMUNITY IMPACTNEWSPAPER
The Woodlands plans for 0.23 tax rate
administration. New projections also account for reception of fewer gains than expected from home revaluations. As of August, sales tax revenue in was million below projec- tions, Sharp said. The proposed tax rate includes a plan to re nance bonds to lower the township’s debt service tax rate from . to . per valuation. The maintenance and operations tax rate would increase from . to . per valuation—a com- bined tax rate of . . The average property tax bill for an owner of a house valued at the township aver- age— ,—would be , , Sharp said. This year’s average tax bill was , according to information pre- pared for the Aug. public hearing. The budget and tax rate will be adopted at a special meeting p.m. Sept. .
BY VANESSA HOLT The Woodlands Township board of directors has proposed a . tax rate for scal year - in light of increasing costs for several township services and no signi cant expected increase in sales tax revenue. The proposed tax rate is an increase of . from the current tax rate of . per valuation. During budget discussions the week of Aug. , board members said the township’s new solid waste management contract and its plans to take over street maintenance services provided by The Woodlands Devel- opment Corp. will add . million in additional expenses in . Additionally, the township scaled back sales tax revenue projections to reect the assumption of no signi cant growth in the next scal year, said Monique Sharp, assistant general manager for nance and
Sales tax bumps revenue
Shenandoah City Council said during August budget workshops the city tax rate was not expected to increase in fiscal year 2019-20.
Proposed tax rate: $0.1799 per $100 valuation
$9.73million $9.28million
Fiscal year 2019-20:
Revenue
Expenditures
Budget highlights:
• $573,340 in additional sales tax revenue in fiscal year 2019-20
New staff members in:
• Community
• Public works department
• Police
development department
department
SOURCE:CITYOFSHENANDOAH/COMMUNITY IMPACTNEWSPAPER
Oak Ridge North expects higher tax rate in 2019-20 fiscal year
Budget breakdown
Oak Ridge North set its fiscal year 2019-20 tax rate in late August with a 1.9% increase more than the 2018-19 rate of $0.4809 per $100.
Oak Ridge North fiscal year 2019-20 tax rate: $0.49 per $100 valuation
2019-20 budget:
$8.1million $9.2million
largely similar to the city’s - nancial plan. Based on the budget, total revenue is expected to drop from . million to . mil- lion, while expenditures are projected to increase from . million to . million. The . million spending dierence is due to capital improvement fund nancing that is not budgeted revenue, according to information pre- sented at the Aug. meeting.
BY BENTHOMPSON The Oak Ridge North City Council adopted its scal year - tax rate of . per valuation and budget focused on city improvements Aug. . The tax rate is an increase of .% from the - tax rate of . and includes a . maintenance and operation rate and a . debt service rate, Mayor Paul Bond said. The FY - budget is
Revenue
Expenditures
• Regional detention pond • City drainage and park improvements
• Robinson Road engineering
$2.13 million in capital projects includes:
• Equipment purchases
SOURCE:CITYOFOAKRIDGENORTH/COMMUNITY IMPACTNEWSPAPER
include the development of a regional detention pond, equipment purchases and improvements to city parks, according to the plan.
purchases and related fees that will cost . million. The fund is projected to have around , remaining next fall. Major capital projects
The capital improvement fund will begin the scal year at . million and will add more than , in new nancing for projects,
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The Woodlands edition • September 2019
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