The Woodlands Township adopts 2026 budget with no tax rate increase

The Woodlands Township board of directors approved the fiscal year 2026 budget in a 6-1 vote at a Sept. 4 meeting. Board member Shelley Sekula-Gibbs cast the dissenting vote.

What to know

On Sept. 4, township President and CEO Monique Sharp outlined the preliminary budget for FY 2026 with a revenue of $175.1 million and consolidated expenditures of $180.4 million. The Woodlands' fiscal year runs from January to December.

Sharp said one of the budget’s departmental increases was due to the increase in law enforcement costs, for a total of about $2.8 million, as discussed in the preliminary budget workshops. The budget also slates $13 million for capital projects in areas such as parks and recreation and the fire department. However, expenditures overall are $22.7 million lower than the previous year, she said.

Sharp said 30% of the township's revenue comes from property tax revenue.

The impact

The approved tax rate consists of a debt service rate of $0.0102 per $100 valuation and the maintenance and operations rate of $0.1612 per $100 valuation. The combined tax rate is $0.1714 per $100 of taxable value, the same rate as the previous year, as previously reported by Community Impact. This is above the no-new-revenue rate but below the rate that would require voter approval.

• FY 2026 no-new-revenue tax rate: $0.1603 per $100 assessment
• FY 2026 voter-approval rate: $0.1889 per $100 assessment

How we got here

The Woodlands Township board of directors held several budget workshops from Aug. 18-21, as reported by Community Impact.