Two-minute impact
During a special workshop on Jan. 31, commissioners received information from county bond financial advisor John Robuck and bond counsel Marcus Deitz, who outlined three options for a May bond initiative based on no tax rate impact, a half-cent tax rate increase and a one-cent tax rate increase.
Bond Scenario 1: $450 million-$480 million
- Tax rate impact: No increase
- Amount per commissioner: $120 million
- Tax rate impact: $0.005 increase per $100 valuation
- Amount per commissioner: $130 million-$160 million
- Tax rate impact: $0.01 increase per $100 valuation
- Amount per commissioner: $175 million-$200 million
Commissioners previously discussed including some infrastructure projects such as a new animal shelter on a bond issue in 2024. However, County Judge Mark Keough said infrastructure projects were no longer on the table for a May bond election to allow the county to focus on road needs.
The timeline
Dietz said the county can call the bond election any time between Feb. 3-14. However, once the bond is called commissioners will not be allowed to advocate for or against the bond initiative. Mark Mooney, with LJA Engineering, said the firm will now work with commissioners to set public workshop dates in each precinct to spread information and implement outreach initiatives ahead of the May 3 election.
"We've got three and a half months before the election actually occurs, and there's a lot of information materials that [the county] will likely provide over that period of time and discuss with the voters what impact this is going to have on the taxes, because they're all going to be asked," Deitz said.
In their words
- "I look at the other numbers and I look at the backlog that we have, and we have to move [on a bond]," Precinct 4 Commissioner Matt Gray said during the workshop. "So to be sitting here talking about it, it's very exciting for me. But we have to get the trust of the public to do this, because we need to look beyond our precincts. We have to look beyond today or tomorrow or next year. We've got to be a little bit more visionary."
- "I'm making three-lane roads out of everything I've got," Precinct 2 Commissioner Charlie Riley said during the workshop. "I'm putting in lanes, 11-foot turn lanes, 8-foot shoulders ... reconstruction from the ground up for $130 million for 21 projects."
- "We're not just using this money for the next three years; we're using it for the next stage, which is 15-20 years," Precinct 3 Commissioner Ritch Wheeler said during the workshop.
The next Montgomery County Commissioners Court meeting is scheduled for Feb. 11 at 9:30 a.m. at 501 N. Thompson, Ste. 402 in Conroe. The meeting will be livestreamed through the county's website.
