The Woodlands Community Association assessment rate for 2008 is 14 cents per $100 of assessable value. This rate is 28 cents, or 66.7 percent less than the 2007 rate.
The significant decrease in the rate is attributable to two primary factors. First, due to the results of the November 6, 2007 election whereby voters approved the expansion of boundaries for The Woodlands Town Center Improvement District (now called The Woodlands Township), a defined amount of sales taxes collected within The Woodlands Township will be available to fund a portion of expenses previously paid by property owners' assessment fees. This allocation of sales tax dollars results in a rate decrease of 6.5 cents, or 15 percent from the 2007 assessment rate.
Second, as a result of voters granting The Woodlands Township authority to reconstitute its Board of Directors so that members are elected at large throughout the expanded Township as well as the authority to levy a property tax, The Woodlands Community Association plans to transfer its operations and associated rights and responsibilities to The Woodlands Township as of January 1, 2010. In anticipation of this transfer, The Woodlands Community Association Board of Directors made the decision to return cash reserve assets currently held by the association to property owners in the form of substantially reduced assessment rates for 2008 and 2009. For 2008, the portion of the rate reduction related to this refund of cash reserves equates to 21.5 cents.
Based on current financial plans and assumptions, the 2009 Woodlands Community Association assessment rate is projected to be similar to the 2008 rate. Beginning in 2010, property owners are projected to pay a property tax levied by The Woodlands Township rather than an assessment fee imposed by The Woodlands Community Association. Financial forecasts indicate that the property tax rate necessary to fund 2010 expenses could approximate 30 cents.
Source:TWCA
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