The cities of Conroe and Montgomery plan to accommodate growing populations by investing in transportation, law enforcement and water and sewer services in their respective 2015-16 fiscal year budgets.
Conroe approved a $154.4 million budget that includes funding for road construction, a new Conroe Police Department headquarters and park renovations. The city of Montgomery allocated significant funds to police department equipment and automatic water meters within its $2.39 million operating budget.
“We always come in with a conservative budget,” Conroe City Administrator Paul Virgadamo said. “It is just a normal budget covering the operating costs that go with public works, parks, police and fire. We didn’t cut any level of service.”
City of Conroe
Along with approval of the $154.4 million budget for fiscal year 2015-16 on Aug. 27, the Conroe City Council also approved a $25.44 million Capital Improvement Plan, which allocates funds to road construction projects, facility improvements and transportation initiatives.
The city will invest $16.9 million in road construction and improvements throughout the year as well as $10.95 million carried over from 2014-15. The projects include a widening of Wilson Road east of I-45 to Frazier Street and an expansion of Longmire Road from FM 3083 to League Line Road.
The plan also includes $1.55 million for park land acquisition and $1.69 million for an improvement project at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Park. The project will add a splash pad, sand volleyball court, futsal courts and landscaping enhancements to the park by June.
Similar improvements are planned for Carl Barton Jr. and Lewis parks in future years, according to the CIP.
“This year we are putting more money in the capital budget for parks than we have in past few years,” Virgadamo said. “There is a focus on building something for the residents to improve quality of life.”
Expenditures in Conroe’s budget decreased 13.3 percent from last year’s budget, city officials said. Despite approving the same property tax rate —42 cents per $100 valuation—for the eighth consecutive year, the city expects to generate an additional $6.22 million in revenue because of recent land annexations and increases in property values.
The annexed properties are expected to bring in about $4.65 million in gross revenue in the next fiscal year, Assistant City Manager Steve Williams said.
“In this case a large portion of [assessed valuation increase] came from annexations that occurred in the beginning of [2015],” Williams said. “It is also likely that values will continue to go up through additional growth and increases in valuation.”
However, Williams said the additional property means the city has to pay for utilities, law enforcement and public services for those areas.
City of Montgomery
During its Sept. 8 meeting, Montgomery City Council approved a $2.39 million budget for the 2015-16 fiscal year, a 2.4 percent decrease from last year.
Although the council elected to maintain the current tax rate of 41.55 cents per $100 of valuation for the year, Mayor Kirk Jones said Montgomery also expects an increase in revenue to be generated by new homes in the area.
“With the new rooftops, we didn’t feel the need to raise the tax rates,” Jones said. “Right now it is mostly residential [growth]. There is very little commercial [growth] right now, but we expect that to go up very soon.”
The city allocated $540,000 in capital expenses in the budget, including funding for two new police cars and implementation of a new automatic water meter system for residents.
The system will be implemented in November, City Manager Jack Yates said.
“Every customer will get a new water meter, and we will be able to drive by and make the readings without having to go to each meter individually,” he said.
The budgets for the 2015-16 fiscal year will go into effect Oct. 1.
