The City of Katy city council unanimously approved the proposed 2024 tax rate of $0.425 at the August 26 city council meeting at City Hall, 901 Avenue C in Katy. A public hearing on the rate will be held during the council’s September 23 meeting.

The council also authorized an annual price adjustment with Texas Pride Disposal Solutions, LLC, to be effective September 1, 2024. Mayor Pro Tem Chris Harris said that the new rate of $16.69 is less than the previous $17.87 rate under Republic in 2020. Councilmember Gina Hicks said that trash pickup service from the vendor had greatly improved over the past year.

In other actions, council:

· Authorized the mayor to sign a no-cost change order for a 2024 asphalt street improvement project, which will install a sidewalk on Rexora Lane between Fortuna Drive and Patna Drive.

· Authorized the mayor to sign a community development block grant for a contract for the water and sewer improvements to the City of Katy’s Danover area. City engineer David Kaspar said that the environmental study is almost completed, and that construction would start in January 2025.

· Approved the creation of a job description and salary scale for an IT director to be added to city staff, a position that will be filled after October 1, 2024. Councilmember Hicks said, “I’m excited that this is finally happening – we’ve been working on it for a few years.”

Via consent agenda, the council approved hotel occupancy tax grant applications from the Convention and Tourism Bureau:

· FOUND TEXAS requested a $70,000.00 grant for full-service marketing services to enhance Katy’s historic downtown square, located at Second Street at Avenue C, for tourism-related advertising.

· Wild West Brewfest requested $120,000.00 for tourism-related advertising and promotion of its March 27-29, 2025, event at Typhoon Texas, 555 Katy Fort Bend Road in Katy.

· Major League Table Tennis, LLC, requested $31,755.00 for a table tennis tournament to be held March 7-9, 2025, at the Merrell Center, 6301 S. Stadium Lane, Katy.

Special recognitions were also presented:

· The Public Works Department Monster Smokers BBQ Team was recognized by Public Works director Jason Rivera for their achievement in bringing home a grand championship trophy for the second consecutive year. The team was awarded first in protein, second in brisket, third in chicken, third in ribs and the overall Traveling Grand Champion Trophy at the May 22 in Alvin at the American Public Works Association Southeast Texas chapter annual BBQ cook-off where they competed against 25 other teams from area cities and municipal utility districts.

· The City Secretary’s office was awarded the 2024-2025 Municipal Clerk’s Office Achievement of Excellence Award from the Texas Municipal Clerk Association. Becky L. McGrew presented the

award to Mayor Dusty Thiele and her staff. The team qualified in all 12 award categories, meeting or exceeding the standards set by the association.

The next meeting of the city council will take place on September 9 at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall.