Conroe IDC hears mixed sales-tax report; board welcomes new CFO

The Conroe Industrial Development Corporation heard a sales-tax update Thursday showing year-to-date collections above 2024 but mixed month-to-month results, and board members formally welcomed Ariel Gibbs as the city’s new chief financial officer.

Scott, a staff member who presented the report, told the board that February 2025 receipts were up (Scott described February as “up 17.17…with audit collections”), March was up on an adjusted basis, and April showed a decline. He said year-to-date collections for fiscal 2025 were about $733,000 higher than the same period in 2024, roughly a 3.97% increase, and were about $716,107, or 7.47%, above the budget through April. Scott characterized sales-tax trends as “hard to predict” given local uncertainty around a possible moratorium and water issues and national economic factors such as tariffs.

The update matters because sales taxes are a major revenue source for City of Conroe economic-development activities overseen by the CIDC. Board members emphasized caution in budgeting. One director said a citywide moratorium on new construction could reduce future sales-tax and property-tax growth and urged avoiding moratoria where possible; another director asked staff to provide a more detailed breakdown of which sales-tax categories were driving the changes.

Board members also used the meeting to welcome Ariel Gibbs. The board chair told Gibbs the city was “excited” about her selection and said members looked forward to receiving a fuller financial report at the next meeting.

Staff said the CIDC will continue to monitor receipts, watch for the effects of any local moratorium or broader tariff-driven uncertainty, and provide a more detailed sales-tax category report at a subsequent meeting.