Woodlands Township Meeting - 8/26/2009

First, since I did not report on the July 22nd Township Board Meeting, I want to bring to your attention a statistic of which I was not aware and that was presented by Jim Stiffler (a father whose daughter committed suicide). He said that Montgomery County is at the top for suicide in our State and nation per capita. That's sad and definitely important to know. He attributed it to intense peer pressure, etc. See Mr. Stiffler's report at http://video.thewoodlandstownship-tx.gov/ and click on this meeting date.

It seems the hottest topic at any Township meeting lately is "The Budget". And the hottest budget item is "Security" and how to fund additional police protection. Residents have made many suggestions and so have members of the Township Board including: 1) wait to update existing parks, 2) reduce lights on trees at Town Center, 3) privatize water taxis, 4) no new waterway songs (use old ones), 5) wait to build additions to Creekside Park, 6) wait to install new Town Center paths, 7) no ice rink next Christmas, 8) no horseback security at Mall (use real patrol personnel), 9) no tax abatements to 7 large companies now grandfathered, etc. Several residents have commented on the downturn in the economy and that the 3% increase in next year's budget is probably not realistic. So, the "Budget" was also the hottest topic at the August 26th Township Meeting. It will be interesting to see what gets left out and what gets left in. From what the Board Members stated in this meeting, they plan to find the money to fund the additional security needed to make citizens feel safe by cutting budget items and not increasing it. There were suggestions to lower and to raise the proposed tax rate, and it appears the Township Board has settled on a tax rate of $.328 per $100 of valuation. To view the entire meeting, go to http://video.thewoodlandstownship-tx.gov/ and click on this meeting date.