What you need to know
Following three days of budget workshops, county commissioners approved a tax rate of $0.3790 per $100 valuation, raising the tax rate for the first time in five years and narrowly avoiding a voter-approval tax rate election, or VATRE.
“I don't know how else to do this,” Montgomery County Judge Mark Keough said. “We've labored over and over and over. I don't know what else to do, but I am comfortable with the fact that we are taking care of the people of Montgomery County.”
Precinct 3 Commissioner James Noack and Precinct 4 Commissioner Matt Gray both opposed the tax rate increase due to concerns over the tax burden on homeowners. However, Budget Director Amanda Carter told commissioners the majority of the funding issues were for major, necessary upgrades to law enforcement and information technology to keep up with needs from departments across the county.
The breakdown
Through the budget process, the county identified nearly $9.5 million in additional funding needs above the $457 million in the total base budget. The biggest expenses included:
- 3.3% cost-of-living increase: $6.18 million
- 11 new constable deputies: $2.28 million
- Technology upgrade: $321,638
Stay tuned
Since the FY 2024-25 tax rate is above the no-new-revenue rate, a public hearing is required by Texas law to provide an opportunity for citizens to comment on the increase. The public hearing is scheduled for Sept. 6 at 9:30 a.m. at the Alan B. Sadler building at 501 N. Thompsons St. in Conroe.
