Welcome to KatyRealEstate.com!

By James Hale
Special to the Times

Tuesday, January 26, 2010 11:35 PM CST
A draft of Katy Independent School District’s financial audit by Null-Lairson P.C. was presented to the board Jan. 20 by representatives of the firm. Katy ISD recorded a strong year ending in August 2009, despite the economic downturn experienced throughout the nation.

Total net assets of the district increased by more than $16 million over the year to $134 million.

Chief financial officer Bill Moore credited increases in fund balances and decreases in the district’s debt as the primary reasons for the increase in assets.

“We basically paid down our debt while adding assets,” Moore said. “We did have a good year as far as paying off some of our outstanding debt.”

The capital projects fund went down $15 and a half million to cover capital expenditures that were not met by $24 million in bond sales. The sale of these bonds last June represents the last of bonds authorized in 2006.

“Overall our fund balances went down $2.9 million, but that’s a little bit misleading,” Moore said. “The reason for the decrease was really in the capital projects fund; if you take that out the rest of our district increased their fund balance by about $14 million.”

The special revenue funds lost $200,000. The general fund increased $8.9 million through tax collection as a result of a boom of $2.6 billion in property values.

Another boom to the KISD’s balance sheet came from expenditures, which were 4.8 percent under budget last year.

“There were a couple of individual areas [that contributed to coming in under budget] such as energy bills being lower; we actually came in $2.2 million under in fuel prices,” Moore said. “In (human resources) we saved about one million in our substitute program.”

Chuck Yaple of Null-Lairson warned the board that government scrutiny can be expected in the future. Federal funding from the recovery act that goes to Title One and special education programs will likely require further audits.

“Texas has been designated a high-risk state for program compliance under the recovery act.” Yaple said. “Through the Texas Education Agency or through the federal inspectors general we can also expect a little bit more reach.”

By Tracy Dang
Katy Times Managing Editor

Katy area law enforcement agencies, neighborhood organizations and community groups are hosting block parties and area activities to celebrate National Night Out next Tuesday.

According to the National Association of Town Watch, National Night Out was designed to:

•Heighten crime and drug prevention awareness;

•Generate support for, and participation in, local anticrime programs;

•Strengthen neighborhood spirit and police-community partnerships; and

•Send a message to criminals letting them know that neighborhoods are organized and fighting back.

The Katy Police Department is hosting an event Tuesday from 5:30 p.m. until dark at the Katy City Park. Activities will include a tour of a LifeFlight helicopter, face painting, moonwalks and a chance to take photos and get autographs from two Houston Texans cheerleaders. (more…)

By MARTY KRAMER, Consumer columnist

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is making it possible to monetize the $8,000 tax credit available to first-time homebuyers. Big whoop, right? What does that even mean?

That’s the problem with words like monetize. You hear it, probably have an idea of its definition, but don’t really understand what it means regarding the tax credit. If the tax credit isn’t about money, then what good is it anyway?

Here’s the deal. The tax credit was rolled out as exactly that: a credit on your federal income tax (or a payment to you if the credit amount exceeds your tax liability). From the start, Texas REALTORS® and homebuyers asked if there was some way to immediately apply that money to the downpayment of the home rather than wait for a “rebate” on your tax return. The answer was no. (more…)

Newsweek has ranked four Katy ISD high schools — Seven Lakes, Katy, Taylor and Cinco Ranch — among the top 1,500 (6 percent) out of the approximately 27,000 public high schools in the nation.

The magazine ranks public high schools annually based on the number of students who take Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate or Cambridge tests at a school, divided by the number of graduating seniors.

Seven Lakes, ranked 403, topped the list in Katy. Other Katy ISD schools that ranked in the top 1,500 are Cinco Ranch at 458, Taylor at 1,067 and Katy at 1458.

All of the schools on the list have an index of at least 1.000 (meaning that they had as many tests as graduates), according to Newsweek researchers.

A school can reach 1.000 level only if half of its students take one AP, IB or Cambridge test in their junior year and one in their senior year.

Here’s more on how the rankings were calculated, which also takes into account the number of students eating federally subsidized lunches among other factors.

Study says economy, housing industries remains steady

By Luciano Battistini
Times Staff Writer

Metrostudy gave a positive outlook about the Houston economy and housing industry during the Katy Area Economic Development Council meeting Tuesday.

“While builder cutbacks and discounted pricing are having an effect on reducing the inventory of homes, the tightening of credit standards has removed a sizable number of formerly qualified buyers from the market,” said David Jarvis, Metrostudy director of the Houston region.

“Nevertheless, as these issues run their cycle, demographic trends keep marching forward, creating a pool of potential buyers who will express themselves in the market when credit normalcy and calmer consumer psychology return, setting the stage for a decade of strong housing demand in the United States.” (more…)

First-time purchasers get a tax credit windfall if they buy before December.
By Les Christie, CNNMoney.com staff writer

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — There’s a nice windfall for some homebuyers in the economic stimulus bill. First-time buyers can claim a credit worth $8,000 - or 10% of the home’s value, whichever is less - on their 2008 or 2009 taxes.

A big plus is that the credit is refundable, meaning tax filers see a refund of the full $8,000 even if their total tax bill - the amount of witholding they paid during the year plus anything extra they had to pony up when they filed their returns - was less than that amount. But there has been a lot of confusion over this provision. Adam Billings of Knoxville, Tenn. wrote to CNNMoney.com asking:

“I will qualify as a first-time home buyer, and I am currently set to get a small tax refund for 2008. Does that mean if I purchased now that I would get an extra $8,000 added on top of my current refund?”

The short answer? Yes, Billings would get back the $8,000 plus what he’d overpaid. The long answer? It depends. Here are three scenarios: (more…)

By HELEN ERIKSEN CHRONICLE CORRESPONDENT

Katy Area Economic Development Council president Lance LaCour said growth in Katy’s business sector remained steady in 2008 despite tough economic times.

LaCour said the council had its second audit and finished the year “in the black” during his delivery of the annual report at a March 10 general assembly meeting.

The report highlighted the year’s top projects either under way or near the start of construction in the areas of infrastructure, retail, energy industries and services, and real estate developments.

LaCour and other business leaders say they are excited about the growth in Katy where more than a dozen projects announced in 2008 represent a capital investment of $273 million in 1.4 million square feet of space. LaCour said the ventures could create about 5,400 jobs.

“I would say that’s a pretty good year in a major recession,” he said. (more…)