Montgomery County Commissioners Court adopted the fiscal year 2016-17 budget Sept. 6 after considering several proposed tweaks to the county tax rate and animal shelter budget.

A 1 cent tax cut was factored in as part of the budget. Despite decreasing the tax rate, the county funded a number of new positions and initiatives to accommodate population growth while increasing animal shelter funding within the nearly $350 million budget.

During the Aug. 23 Commissioners Court meeting, Montgomery County Judge Craig Doyal originally proposed decreasing the property tax rate by 0.25 cent. The money for the tax cut was to be allocated from a new capital improvement fund included in the FY 2016-17 budget.

“I hear every day that appraisals are out of line, which is the big hit people are taking,” Doyal said. “I think it’s a good move on our part to being able to reduce the burden on our taxpayers.”

However, Precinct 3 Commissioner James Noack presented a proposal during the Sept. 6 meeting to cut the tax rate by 1 cent down to a rate of 46.67 cents per $100 valuation, which was unanimously approved by the court. The money for the tax cut will still come from the county’s new capital improvement fund.

The county property tax rate has slowly decrease over the past 10 years, and is down nearly 3 cents since 2006.Noack said if the county was going to make a tax cut, it should make one that would have a greater effect on homeowners.

“It lets our taxpayers keep more money in their pocket,” Noack said. “When appraisals are going up as they have, it’s the homeowners taking it on the chin.”

Despite the decrease in the  tax rate, this year’s budget is still expected to rise nearly 8 percent, or $18 million, in additional revenue over last year, due to rising property values.

General fund revenues are also expected to rise by more than $15.6 million over last year, for a total of over $238 million.

Budget breakdown

The FY 2016-17 county budget is approximately $347 million. The largest increases in the budget include approximately $8 million set aside for the capital improvement fund, which will give the county an opportunity to fund major projects that come up during the fiscal year without adding debt.

Projects to be funded by the capital improvement fund have not been determined, however Doyal said the fund will allow the county to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to paying for necessary projects without having to take on more debt.

“We’ve heard the taxpayers say over and over, ‘Pay as you go,’” he said. “In an effort to do that, we set aside this capital fund because we have had a lot of large projects that we can’t pay for out of a single budget.”

Since Montgomery County is over 80 percent unincorporated, it does not have the advantages of other fast-growing counties with large cities to help fund law enforcement and roadway maintenance.

The budget also includes a nearly $2 million funding increase for the road and bridge department, personnel—including seven new law enforcement positions—and an increase in debt service. Doyal said the catch-up is ultimately more expensive than the up keep.

“We’re not keeping up today, but we’re trying the best we can,” he said.

Shelter concerns

Although Precinct 4 Commissioner Jim Clark, who has oversight of the county animal shelter, was in favor of a FY 2016-17 animal shelter budget of $3.4 million, the court approved a motion Sept. 6 to set aside $1 million of that total.

The FY 2015-16 budget for the animal shelter was $2.2 million for the 21,000 animals taken in during the year, which was $104 per animal, according to Precinct 4.

Noack and Precinct 2 Commissioner Charlie Riley suggested the motion as a way to further study how the budget will be used to improve conditions at the animal shelter.

“When we swept money from one department and told somebody we’ll set it aside and you can prove that you need it, why don’t we do that with the animal shelter?” Riley said. “Why don’t we take $1 million and set it aside and if he does need it, and we know they need it, we’ll work on it.”

Clark said he thought $2.2 million might be a reachable operational budget for the animal shelter once an aggressive spay and neuter program is put in place and efforts with local volunteer, foster and rescue groups are coordinated.

“But, we need to do a better job of reducing our intake numbers,” Clark said. “Once we do that, I’m confident costs [at the shelter] will come down.”

Clark told the other members of the court Sept. 6 that the county needs to fund the shelter at an acceptable level, and it has always been underfunded.

He said the shelter should be taking in about 30 animals per 1,000 residents, or about 16,500 animals per year. However, the shelter has been taking in about 21,000 per year.

Although Clark said there are a lot of issues at the shelter that need to be addressed, he said improvements have been made.

Under Director Todd Hayden, the shelter this year has appointed new employees and launched a community cat program, Clark said. Another goal is establishing a full-scale, countywide spay and neuter program.

Regardless of the changes, the county is searching for a new shelter director once again. Hayden, who was appointed director in March, replaced former director Michael White, who left the shelter after eight days. White said there were too many unknown problems at the facility.

Following the county’s announcement in late August of its plan to search nationwide for a new director, officials said Hayden is expected to remain with the shelter and aid in the search, which Clark said he hopes is complete by November.

“The groundwork is in place for a permanent director to come in and build on that effort,” Clark said. “We all want a shelter that provides quality care and serves the needs of the community.”