Here are several items on the public agenda, which was released July 22. Discussion on items is not guaranteed as commissioners have the authority to move items to private executive sessions or to defer them to a future meeting. Montgomery County commissioners court meetings can be livestreamed here.
Discussion on proposed budget
Commissioners will discuss a draft budget for fiscal year 2022-23. The draft budget was compiled by the county budget office using budget requests submitted by all county departments.
According to a budget calendar approved by commissioners April 26, department budget requests were due by June 15.
The proposed budget was not immediately available with the release of the agenda July 22. Budget Officer Amanda Carter did not respond to Community Impact Newspaper's questions on whether the budget will be available prior to the July 26 meeting.
Following the proposed budget discussion and approval, the budget will proceed to a workshop scheduled for Aug. 2. A separate item on the July 26 agenda proposes adjusting “calendar dates” but does not include specifics.
At budget workshops, departments will be given the opportunity to justify their requests and compromise with commissioners.
Proposal for PACE financing
Commissioners will review a resolution of intent to implement Property Assessed Clean Energy Act financing within Montgomery County borders. The proposed program would be known as the Montgomery County Property Assessed Clean Energy Program.
The PACE Act allows local and county governments to work with commercial lenders to finance property improvements involving energy and water efficiency and resilience upgrades, with property assessments being used as a repayment method, according to the Texas Comptroller’s Office. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, 37 states and the District of Columbia have PACE legislation in effect.
According to the proposal, commercial, industrial and residential properties with five or more living units that are adding permanent improvements to decrease energy or water dependence are eligible for PACE financing.
Property owners are responsible for choosing lending institutions, per the proposal, and the lenders will work with a county representative to evaluate the property owner’s ability to pay their assessments. No specific time frame is given for when the assessments would take place.
Following the approval of the resolution of intent, a public hearing would be set on Aug. 23.
Cancelation of tax abatement on Conroe factory
The July 26 agenda also contains a proposal to terminate a property tax abatement granted to a 20-acre facility in Conroe’s Industrial Park North owned by Newpark Industrial Blending, LLC, which was formerly known as Newpark Drilling, LLC.
According to the termination notice, the abatement will be terminated due to the fact that Newpark is no longer employing the minimum number of people necessary to meet the abatement’s conditions. Newpark will owe $241,717.26 to the county, which must be paid by July 30.
The abatement was granted to Newpark Drilling in January 2016, with a motion and second from then-Precinct 1 Commissioner Mike Meador and Precinct 2 Commissioner Charlie Riley, according to past commissioners court minutes. The Montgomery Central Appraisal District lists a parcel owned by Newpark Industrial Blending appraised at $13,474,540 at 701 Conroe Park West Drive as of July 22.
The initial abatement granted a 100% tax break for 2016-17, an 80% abatement 2018, a 60% abatement for 2019, a 40% abatement for 2020 and a 20% abatement for 2021.
The initial abatement was set to expire Dec. 31, 2021, and required Newpark Drilling to create 44 new full-time jobs over the course of three years. On Dec. 15, 2020, the commissioners court voted to approve Newpark Industrial Blending’s assumption of the abatement. No public details of the assumption are available on the agenda for that meeting.
In a May 3 press release announcing Quarter 1 results, Matthew Lanigan, president and CEO of Newpark Resources—the parent company of Newpark Industrial Blending—reported a 31% decline in the company’s “Industrial Sources” segment. According to the same release, the company shut down its Industrial Blending operations in March.
