During its Oct. 2 meeting, Tomball City Council approved, on first reading, a proposed tax rate of $0.29332 per $100 valuation for fiscal year 2023-24.

The vote was 3-2, with council members:

• Mark Stoll and John Ford voting against approval
• Dane Dunagin and Derek Townsend voting for approval

Because council member Randy Parr was absent, Mayor Lori Klein Quinn served as the tiebreaker vote and voted for approval.

The gist

This was the first reading of the proposed tax rate, with the second and final reading set to take place during council’s Oct. 16 meeting, Finance Director Katherine Tapscott said.

The proposed tax rate of $0.29332 is $0.006072 more than the FY 2022-23 tax rate of $0.2872480 per $100 valuation, according to the city’s website.

• “We need to increase our infrastructure and we need to take care of a lot of that,” Quinn said. “We’re using reserves, but we’re also using part of this, too, for our budget. I wish we didn’t have to.”
• “I do have some issues raising people’s taxes; however, we’ve kicked this can down the road for quite a while,” Townsend said. “ ... I’m going to vote yea for it, and the reason why is because we have not raised taxes in 15 years.”
• “We’ve got to do something,” Dunagin said. “You’ve got to have water to drink; you’ve got to have sewers. And that’s why I’m going to be voting for it. And I’m sorry. I don’t want to.”

Those opposed

• “I’m going on 15 years of being on City Council,” Stoll said. “I have never voted for a tax increase in this city. And I’m not going to start this year.”
• “Yes, we’ve been kicking the can down the road, but I am also fearful of today and what it does to people who are even struggling to pay the water bill,” Ford said. “So I’m going to be voting against this tonight.”

Stay tuned

The second and final reading of the proposed tax rate will take place at the council’s Oct. 16 meeting.