Montgomery County budget workshop discussions for fiscal year 2026-27 began Aug. 11 at the Alan B. Sadler Commissioners Court Building in Conroe. The conversation started with commissioners' review of tax rate options as well as the FY 2026-27 certified taxable value of about $109.27 billion, a 3.23% increase over the FY 2025-26 adjusted taxable value. Budget Officer Amanda Carter also presented where the county stands on its pay parity goals and employee promotions.
At a glance
The 3.23% rate increase over the FY 2025-26 current adjusted taxable value is less of an annual increase than the county has seen within past years, Tax Assessor Tammy McRae said. Documents from the tax assessor’s office dated July 25 also show that at the time of certification, 21,181 parcels remained under protest with an estimated taxable value of about $4.224 billion, according to a county document.
“We [the county] didn't see a large increase in the '26 values ... this year, as we have in [the past] five years, and the data showed that we had more of a stabilized market this year, and so for that reason, very few areas of our county saw an increase in their market value,” McRae said. “We had approximately a 4% loss in value from April when we got our preliminary values through July when we received certified.”
The breakdown
According to budget documents, the FY 2026-27 no-new-revenue tax rate is higher than the FY 2025-26 adopted tax rate.
For FY 2025-26:
- Adopted tax rate: $0.3770 per $100 valuation
- Median home taxable value: $270,070
- Tax for median-valued home: $1,018.16
The 2026-27 NNR tax rate breaks down to:
- No-new-revenue tax rate: $0.3706 per $100 valuation
- Median home taxable value: $270,349
- Tax for median-valued home: $1,001.91
In addition to the NNR tax rate, the voter approval rate is estimated at $0.4136 per $100 valuation, according to county documents. That is the highest tax rate that can be charged before an election is needed for voter approval.
The FY 2026-27 proposed tax rate and estimated tax on a median-valued home are yet to be determined, but the median homestead taxable value is $270,349, according to the taxpayer impact statement.
Among other impacts to county revenue, McRae explained how House Bill 9, which took effect Jan. 1, affected property tax exemptions for business owners in relation to the county’s budget. Community Impact previously reported that under state Proposition 9, up to $125,000 of businesses’ personal property would be exempt from taxation by local government entities. Due to this exemption, the county saw $3.35 million less revenue, she said.
What else?
Carter also presented salary upgrade and medical plan updates. Carter said the county met its pay parity goals with law enforcement raises given last year, but that the county needs to look at long-term options for law enforcement needs.
“We believe that the pay parity ... did reach its goals. It did have some hiccups, but we are seeing some lower attrition rates on throughout the county [and] from what we can see, people want to come work for Montgomery County ... we do believe that the plans are going to need to be reevaluated,” Carter said.
Carter said last year the county presented a four-year plan for pay parity for law enforcement, but the committee handling it agrees that the county needs to look at the long-term options. She said four years is too compressed a time period to be able to handle some of the major changes needed in law enforcement. The recommendation is to move the plan to five years, she said.
The full pay parity for 2026-27 with benefits is estimated to cost about $9.88 million in 2026-27.
“I also want to make it clear. I'm going to take care of every other employee in this county this time," Precinct 2 Commissioner Charlie Riley said. "Pay for law enforcement got the big pay raise last year, and nobody else got anything.
I'm taking care of everybody this year. One way or the other, I got guys out there that did not get one and that's not gonna happen this year."
Precinct 1 Commissioner Robert Walker said he agrees with Riley.
“I was for the parity, but I had my employees; I gave them all a dollar raise out of my budget just because of it. Everything's expensive,” Walker said.
Before you go
Commissioners decided to make decisions on pay raises, including medical plan costs, another day during budget workshop week. Budget discussion was expected to continue throughout the week.
