Montgomery County preliminary budget review shows $21.68M increase for FY 2024-25

In a presentation reviewing the fiscal year 2024-25 preliminary budget for Montgomery County on July 23, commissioners were informed of a projected $21.68 million increase in expenditures and more than 100 new position requests. Budget workshops will be held in August.

Zooming in

According to Montgomery County Budget Director Amanda Carter, there were 116 new personnel requests from county departments; however, Carter only included 28 of the positions in the budget. She said those were included based on demand and need while maintaining a budget structure close to previous years. Other operational increases included:

• Economic development: $2.99 million
• Jail food service and medical: $2.44 million
• Utilities: $912,116
• Montgomery County Appraisal District: $734,000

The county will provide certified estimates of tax collections by July 25, and Montgomery County Tax Assessor-Collector Tammy McRae will provide proposed tax rates during the budget workshops in August.

What else?

Carter said an additional expense commissioners will need to consider this year is the cost of software upgrades to the Criminal Justice Information System. Funds are no longer set aside in the Capital Improvement Fund for system enhancements, she said.

“Renewals are finally hitting the IT budget,” Carter said. “You're seeing some big increases there. Microsoft has increased their rates across the world. So it's not just particular to Montgomery County.”

Carter said no cost-of-living increases had been factored into the preliminary budget, something Precinct 3 Commissioner James Noack requested be included ahead of budget workshops.

Stay tuned

The Montgomery County budget workshops will be held from Aug. 13-16 in the Alan B. Sadler building at 501 N. Thompson St., Conroe.