On August 24, the Shenandoah city council formally adopted (by 5-0 vote) the 2022 property tax of $0.1477 per $100 valuation which is the no-new-revenue rate for the city. This will mean an approximate 18% decrease from last year’s rate. The Woodlands Township directors unanimously voted to actually go below their no-new-revenue rate of $0.1964 per $100 valuation (different from Shenandoah’s) and proposed a rate of $0.1875. This is a decrease of 16% from last year. See this article for an explanation of no-new-revenue.
The council also voted to send a resolution to the state legislature in support of legislation that would give local government taxing entities the ability to raise the homestead exemption limitation rate from 20% up to 100%. It should be noted that in September 2021, a similar joint resolution was introduced in the Texas legislature, but it did not get past stage 1 of the 7 stages. According to that resolution, raising the rate would have also required a vote on amending the Texas constitution.
In a unanimous decision, the city voted to adopt an approximate $10.5 million dollar annual budget for 2022-23. During the public hearing, resident David Teague asked for a review of facility fee charges to non-resident individuals and groups to offset the higher costs of labor, maintenance and wear and tear on city assets (such as the city pool and parks). However, councilman Ted Fletcher responded by saying he supports the lower facility fees for those groups. During the same budget discussion, councilman Ron Raymaker questioned whether the city should continue to absorb the credit card fees in connection with water bill payments made by residents and businesses.
Teague also inquired about the city’s quarterly budget amendment process requesting the city add a separate transparent document of the modified budget throughout the fiscal year. Later in the meeting, Councilman Mike McLeod requested a future agenda item to discuss a budget amendment process.
