2023
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Fort Bend commissioners approve increased budget with lower tax rate By Ken Fountain KFOUNTAIN@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
The Fort Bend County Commissioners Court last week passed a total $731.6 million budget for the 202425 that lowered the property tax rate during a time of increased property values while also raising commissioners’ salaries, a moved opposed by one member. The budget marks a 8.2% increase from the previous year. In a press release, George’s office highlighted several highlights of the budget. Those include pay increases for 843 law enforcement personnel, with an average pay raise of 22 percent. It also includes the addition of two new associate district courts and a new magistrate court. The budget also funds 75 new positions across various departments, including 27 in the county justice administration division and 22 positions in the health and welfare division at a total cost of $7.7 million. Commissioners praised the county’s budget staffers for working to increase the salaries of law enforcement personnel in particular, saying it would help bring those salaries into parity with agencies in other jurisdictions. The budget also funds expansions of the Youth Employment Program and Expose Excellence Youth Program, as well as new recreational facilities throughout the county, including Boys & Girls Clubs in Rosenberg, Arcola, and Fresno, and the development of All Abilities Park in Fulshear. The regularly scheduled meeting on September 24 was unusually dramatic since it was the first since County Judge KP George, who leads the court, had been the subject of a search warrant in an investigation of an alleged social media campaign of fake racist posting by his former chief of staff, Taral Patel, the Democratic candidate running against Republican Precinct 3 Commissioner Andy Meyers. George was indicted on Thursday. As part of the budget process, commissioners adopted a $100 valuation, 1.45 cents lower than the previous year’s. Additionally, the tax rate for the Fort Bend County Drainage District was set at 1 cent, a reduction of 0.24 cents. The combined total tax rate for the county and drainage district is 42.2 cents, a 1.69¢ decrease from last year’s rate. Members of the public who spoke during the meeting pointed out that while the tax rates might be lower, property owners’ tax bills will likely be higher because of increased property values set by the Fort Bend County Appraisal District. But George and county staffers went to some length to note that the appraisal district is a separate entity from the county government, and that its elected members make decisions on their own, without input or approval from the Commissioners Court. According to county offi-
SEE BUDGET PAGE 2
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George indicated for misdemeanor in alleged fake hate scheme By Ken Fountain KFOUNTAIN@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
Fort Bend County Judge KP George, the county’s top elected official, has been indicted on a misdemeanor charge stemming from a months-long investigation that has already resulted in the indictment on several felony and misdemeanor counts of his former chief of staff. After being briefly arrested on Thursday and having been released on a personal recognizance bond, George in
Fort Bend County Judge KP George was indicted last week on a misdemeanor charge of misrepresentation of identity in a purported fake hate social media campaign. File photo by Ken Fountain
a statement released late that night said he had no intention of resigning from his office. An arraignment is set for January 3. Chad Dick, an associate in the firm of famed Houston criminal defense attorney Rusty Hardin, is listed in court records as George’s attorney of record. In the indictment handed down September 26 by a Fort Bend County grand jury, George, under his full given name of Kyle Presad George, is charged with the Class A misdemeanor offense of mis-
representation of identity. Specifically, the indictment alleges that George “did on or about September 26, 2022, then and there misrepresent [George’s] identity, namely by posing as Facebook user ‘Antonio Scalywag’ in a campaign communication posted on [George’s] Facebook page with an intent to injure a candidate or influence the result of an election.” At that time, George,
SEE GEORGE PAGE 2
UH at Sugar Land celebrates ‘topping out’ of new technology building
Workers with Vaughn Construction enjoy a catered lunch during the “topping-out” ceremony for the new Sugar Land Academic Building 2 at UH at Sugar Land last week. Photo by Ken Fountain
By Ken Fountain KFOUNTAIN@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
Nearly an entire floor of an as-yet-unfinished building on the campus of UH at Sugar Land was transformed into an enormous, open-air buffet hall Friday as the campus celebrated the “topping out” of its Sugar Land Academic
Building 2. UH officials and employees joined employees of general contractor Vaughn Construction and SmithGroup, the project’s architectural firm, for an event marking the completion of the structural elements of the building, which is set to open in the fall of 2025.
The building broke ground in October 2023, according to a UH story. The $65 million, threefloor, approximately 75,000 square foot building is the latest edition to the everburgeoning UH at Sugar Land campus, which recently celebrated 30 years serving students in the Fort Bend
County region. The building stands adjacent to the campus’s original Technology Building, which opened in 2019. Once completed, the new building will house classrooms, labs, faculty and staff from the UH’s Cullen College of Engineering - Technology Division, marking the com-
plete transfer of that division from the UH system’s main campus outside downtown Houston. The division has been housed for decaAttendees enjoyed a catered lunch from Lupe’s Tex-Mex Grill before participating in
SEE ‘TOPPING OUT’ PAGE 5
Greater Houston Partnership looks at region's demographic changes Staff Reports Editor’s Note: In its “Economy at a Glance” report for October, the Greater Houston Partnership - the regional chamber of commerce - discusses the latest edition of the annual American Community Survey released by the U.S. Census Bureau. The main body of the report is presented here with permission. Find the full report at houston.org. Each fall, the U.S. Census Bureau releases the American Community Survey (ACS), its annual snapshot of the
nation’s economic, demographic, housing, and social characteristics. By examining ACS data over time, one can see shifts in the population. In the first of a three-part series, this newsletter will examine ACS data for ‘13 and ‘23 and discuss the changes in Houston over that time. The
November issue will focus on how Houston compares to the nation’s major metros. And the December issue will examine the differences in the 10 counties that comprise the Houston metro area.
Race and Ethnicity Houston’s Asian, Black,
and Hispanic communities have grown substantially over the past 10 years while the white population has remained relatively unchanged. The region has also seen a surge in residents selfidentifying as being of more than one race, a trend that is more common than it was
a decade ago. H i sp a n ic s c ompr i s e the largest racial/ethnic community in the region. However, no single group constitutes a majority of Houston’s population. It’s been that way since the late ‘90s. The demographic shifts that began in Houston 30 years ago are filtering through the rest of the nation. Houston’s racial/ ethnic composition today reflects the direction in which the U.S. is headed.
SEE GHP PAGE 2