Community Impact reports that in order to take care of an approximate $1.5 billion in project needs across the county, for the first time in nearly a decade, Montgomery County Commissioners are working on building a new infrastructure and road bond referendum.
Members of the Montgomery County Commissioners Court held special workshops on April 23rd and May 7th to evaluate a number of details in the proposed bond election. One of the items debated was whether the bond election should be pushed back to May of 2025 or be on the November 5th presidential election ballot.
Some of the top projects on their list were infrastructure improvement along the east side of I-45, Rayford Road from I-45 to Grand Parkway, and construction of a new county courthouse and animal shelter.
Precinct #2 Commissioner Charlie Riley tried to move commissioners in the direction of only asking for the amount of funds they could spend in a reasonable way during the next four to five years.
Inflation has made the cost of construction rise, according to managing adviser John Robuck at BOK Financial, the bond advisory firm for the county. He said following a bond election, it would take about two months for the county to get the funds.
Including the tax rate impacts by the bond at several projected amounts, Robuck explained potentials for a bond ranging from $165 million to $1 billion. The calculations were all tied to a property growth rate of 5 percent in the county. However, he added, as of April 30th, the projected rate of growth is 13.2 percent. He said the 13.2 percent was subject to change and would probably decrease. He also passed along that the effect of a larger growth rate potentially could ease the tax burden with larger bond issues.
