Last Thursday, Montgomery County Commissioners continued forward with a $466.55 million budget as they head to a May bond election. In order to fund a number of capital improvements for 2025, the county will use certificates of obligation.
County commissioners, after three days of budget workshops, okayed a tax rate of $0.3790 per $100 valuation. For the first time in five years, this raises the tax rate and slimly dodges a voter-approval tax rate election.
Montgomery County Judge Mark Keough said he didn’t know “how else to do this.” However, he was “comfortable” that the people of Montgomery County are being taken care of.
Because of the tax burden on local homeowners, Precinct #3 Commissioner James Noack and Precinct #4 Commissioner Matt Gray were opposed to the raise in the tax rate. According to Budget Director Amanda Carter most of the funding was for highly important “necessary upgrades” for law enforcement needs and IT to maintain the needs of departments in the county.
Through their work on the budget the county came up with around $9.5 million dollars in additional monetary needs on top of the total base budget of $457 million. The largest expenses included:
–$6.18 million for a 3.3% cost-of-living increase
–$2.28 million for 11 new constable deputies
–$321,638 in technology upgrades
In an updated presentation on the new tax rate, BOK Financials Managing Advisor, John Robuck, said that a $450 million dollar bond would have no effect on the tax rate, if approved.
A public hearing is required since the Fiscal Year 2024-25 tax rate is above the no new revenue rate. On September 6th at 9:30 AM, a public hearing is scheduled at the Alan B. Sadler building at 501 North Thompson Street in Conroe.
