GOVERNMENT
Top government stories to watch in 2023
2023 ANNUAL COMMUNITY GUIDE
Construction to begin on downtown Tomball alleys in spring 2023
OTHER STORIES TO FOLLOW IN 2023 THE 2022 BOND PACKAGE All three propositions were approved Nov. 8. More details on bond projects are expected in 2023.
IMPROVING DOWNTOWN The city of Tomball will begin construction this spring on a downtown alley project.
Phase 1
Planned site of public bathrooms Remainder of Tomball alley project
Proposition A Proposition C
Proposition B
BY LIZZY SPANGLER
Construction on alleyways in downtown Tomball—part of the city’s alley improvement project—is anticipated to begin in spring 2023, Tomball City Manager David Esquivel said in an interview. The project was initially expected to begin in spring 2022, according to previous Community Impact reporting. “When we started working on the [FM] 2920 widening project, those discussions—we didn’t want to a ect the construction in the alleys in case that needed to tie in,” Esquivel said about the delay. “The other factor, too, is that staging for construction during festivals and things that are really going down downtown—we wanted to really pick out the best part of the year to be able to do that kind of construction.” Assistant City Manager Jessica Rogers said the project is anticipated to be awarded in February or March. “What we’re working on is trying to gure out what that schedule looks like with events,” Rogers said. “It may take a little bit longer overall, but we’re going to try and get pieces done ... so we’re not disrupting during a major event.” City o cials said the project bid encompasses the 100 blocks of downtown Tomball, which will be the rst phase of the project. “Our initial projections for the costs were about around $1 million for that phase of the project,” Esquivel said. “And so that’s what we are anticipating the funding is there for. We are putting together the bid to have exibility depending on the prices because pricing right now is so unpredictable.” The money for Phase 1 of the project is coming from the
$100M for public safety facilities
N
$1.2B TOTAL
$200M for parks
SOURCE: CITY OF TOMBALL COMMUNITY IMPACT
for roads, drainage and multimodal transportation $900M
city’s capital funds, and the Tomball Economic Develop- ment Corp. is willing to help fund the project, Esquivel said. “Over the past few years, we’ve been building up the fund to be able to do the project,” Esquivel said. After construction is completed on the 100 blocks, construction will begin on the 200 blocks with the project spanning from Elm to Pine streets, Esquivel said. Rogers said the construction period will be roughly six to eight weeks. Phase 1 of the alley project may also include the construc- tion of several public restrooms as the city plans to add restrooms as an additive bid, Esquivel said. The only public restrooms are at the Historic Tomball Depot Plaza. “The city owns a tract of land right next to Cisco’s [Salsa Co.] there on the corner of Cherry and Commerce [streets],” Esquivel said. “And there’s a lot of discussion about what we need to do with that piece.” Esquivel said, initially, the plan was to put parking there or turn it into a pocket park. “The merchants on the north side of [FM] 2920 reached out and said, ‘Look, the south side has the option to send folks to the Depot,’” Esquivel said. “They’ve requested something on the north side.”
SOURCE: HARRIS COUNTY OFFICE OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATION COMMUNITY IMPACT
Harris County to initiate work on projects for $1.2B bond package
BY RACHEL CARLTON
Voters gave the go-ahead Nov. 8 on three Harris County bond propositions totaling $1.2 billion for public safety facilities, roads and parks. Carl Apple, director of communications for the county’s engineering department, said his department is working with the O ce of County Administration to develop an implementation strategy for bond projects, and he anticipates a “busy year” with the process of bidding and assigning projects beginning in 2023. “We’re preparing for that to begin to happen in the coming months; within the next few months we’ll all know more about the process, including opportunities for public engagement,” Apple said. Projects will eventually be presented to Commissioners Court for approval. FEMA ood map, MAAPnext online dashboard release expected in 2023 The Federal Emergency Management Agency will release Harris County’s preliminary ood insurance rate maps in 2023, Harris County Flood Control District o cials said. Work on the update began in 2019 with the advent of the Modeling, Assessment and Awareness Project, or MAAPnext, which is funded by FEMA grants and the $2.5 billion HCFCD bond passed in 2018. MAAPnext uses updated rainfall and topographic data to create comprehensive maps and ood risk tools that residents will be able to access with an online dashboard. O cials said the dashboard will complement the release of the preliminary FEMA maps, which will be revised following the preliminary release until they become o cial in late 2024 or 2025. BY RACHEL CARLTON
Early bill lings show education, property tax relief among major priorities for 2023 legislative session
BY HANNAH NORTON
based on the average number of stu- dents enrolled during the academic year and to raise the state allotment to $7,075 per pupil. In addition, Texas has one of the highest property tax rates in the nation. This is because the state does not charge an income tax. Additionally, local property taxes are used to fund schools, city infra- structure and emergency services. Multiple bills have been led to eliminate or reduce schools’ mainte- nance and operations taxes, which fund day-to-day operations and employee salaries.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Texas ranks in the middle of Southern states for pre-K through 12th-grade per-pupil spending. STATE COMPARISONS
Lawmakers have until the 60th day of the state’s 2023-24 session—March 10—to le prospective pieces of legislation. Education funding and property tax relief were two major topics of early lings as the session began Jan. 10. Changing the way Texas funds public schools is top of mind for many educators, administrators and parents. Schools earn $6,160 per student who meets the average daily atten- dance threshold. Bills have been led to require the state to fund schools
$11,075 Louisiana
$10,388 Arkansas
$10,177 New Mexico $9,323 Oklahoma
$9,827 Texas
$9,284 Mississippi
SOURCE: U.S. CENSUS BUREAU COMMUNITY IMPACT
$8,625 Arizona
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TOMBALL MAGNOLIA EDITION • JANUARY 2023
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