Bidding process begins on Hwy. 249 project

Harris County Commissioners Court approved the bidding process to begin March 13 that will turn Hwy. 249 into a six-lane toll road between Spring Cypress and FM 1774 in Precinct 4 and Montgomery County.

The estimated cost of the initially stalled-project is between $250 million and $300 million.

Thanks to state legislation passed in 2011, a partnership was formed between Harris and Montgomery counties and a coalition was created that paved way for the project to move forward.

With the approval to start taking bids, negotiations of an engineering services agreement with Brinkley & Barfield, Inc for program management services to create tolled main lanes will begin.

"This is an indicator that we are on track and to a certain extent we are moving further a little sooner than others anticipated," said Jack Cagle, Harris County Precinct 4 commissioner. "After we get a contract with our engineer, they are going to make their recommendations and we will be one step closer to beginning the process."

In January, the Montgomery County Toll Road Authority unanimously entered into negotiations with Harris County and the Texas Department of Transportation for the development of the project.

"Although many of the residents in the Tomball area are ready for us to bypass all of the steps you have to take and put the concrete on the ground tomorrow, it is a process and (bidding) is the first step to get us to a place where we can put wheels on the ground and get traffic flowing at a better rate," Cagle said.

Harris County fiscal year 2013 budget same as last year's

The Harris County Commissioners Court approved the budget for fiscal year 2013 during its March 13 session, which will stay relatively same to what it was last year at $1.3 billion.

The new budget runs from March 1, 2012 through the end of February 2013.

Many departments were affected by the budget cut last year that amounted to $140 million less than the year prior.

"Of course, you always want to be restored back to the original levels, but it is wonderful that we are making improvement with regard to our review and budget as opposed to having to stay in that negative zone," said Jack Cagle, Harris County Precinct 4 commissioner. "This puts us in a better position in the fall. We are lined up in a very good financial direction and it looks like we won't have to worry about any tax increases."

There may be some fluctuation between each departments' funding, but their individual budgets should not change too much, Cagle said.

Last year's budget cut was a result of the county seeing a big drop in property values since 2009. That translated to less property taxe money – the county's main source of revenue.

There was $156.8 million less for the 2011–12 fiscal year from the previous year.