From the Houston Chronicle: Municipal Utility Districts in Texas have sweeping power to sell bonds, levy taxes

MUDs are among the smallest of the special districts, and are primarily a device used by developers to fund infrastructure, like "water and sewage systems, drainage, parks, recreational facilities, roads and fire stations." The Chronicle reports that their numbers are increasing, which increases the amount of debt held in the state - a state like likes to brag about not having any. Multiple other complaints about them exist as well, as this story lays out.

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Across bright-red Texas, where many politicians tout small government and low taxes, MUDs and other so-called special purpose districts are proliferating - and selling bonds - at a rate many experts inside and outside government find increasingly problematic. They cite high indebtedness, insufficient state oversight, cozy relationships with developers, a lack of responsiveness to citizens and potential conflicts of interest. MUDs can be created either by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality or the Legislature.

Their spread throughout the prairies that once surrounded Houston and other municipalities has helped fuel "growing unrest" about the property tax burden in Texas, said John Kennedy, senior analyst for the Texas Taxpayers and Research Association, a nonprofit group based in Austin. Many taxpayers like Gay find it hard to track all the property tax bills they receive from counties, school districts, MUDs and other special purpose districts, Kennedy said.

"Those special purpose districts sort of operate in kind of a semi-netherworld out there," he added.

There are 1,751 active water districts in Texas, a class of special purpose districts tracked by TCEQ, ranging from large river authorities to tiny irrigation districts, including 949 MUDs, according to the state.

The epicenter of water district financing: Houston's suburbs.

Forty-four percent of those 1,751 districts are in Harris, Fort Bend and Montgomery counties. Sixty-five percent of the 949 MUDs are in those three counties - 389 in Harris County, 146 in Fort Bend County and 85 in Montgomery County.

MUDs are the most popular type of water district in Texas with developers, in large part because they hold enormous sway over how they're created and because MUDs are empowered to issue tax-exempt bonds covering the developers' infrastructure costs.
Taxpayers' advocates increasingly view them as a problematic way to pay for infrastructure in the face of climbing local government debt, given their sweeping power to sell bonds and raise taxes.

 

About MUD's and low voter turnout.

Just to add fuel to the fire regarding the consequences of low voter turnout: Here's a good look at how the political process - on the local level - really operates. 2306 students might want to think about this in order to catch up on the consequences of low voter turnout, in addition to single purpose governments.

- In area MUD elections, handful of voters decide $1 billion in bonds" 'Rent-a-voter' districts chided while supporters point to progress.

A few months ago, a cabinet maker and his wife were recruited to move into a manufactured home parked on a dirt road that was plowed into the woods on the west side of Conroe in Montgomery County.

Daniel and Deborah Spiecher are now the only residents of a newly created municipal utility district, or MUD, carved from 82 acres of land there. They are also the only ones eligible to vote Tuesday on $500 million in proposed bonds to develop that tract.

In fact, they are among just seven voters who will decide the fate this week of $1.07 billion in bonds for roads, water, sewer and recreational facilities in three such districts that were recently formed in this fast-growing county north of Houston. The debt will be repaid with taxes imposed on future residents and businesses. While some believe the MUDs provide a means to bring about high-end development in an orderly way, critics say they are out of control, with developers manipulating the democratic process to essentially take on the roles of cities and borrow hundreds of millions of dollars to make public improvements.

Montgomery County resident Adrian Heath decries the lack of transparency and citizen input into what critics call "rent-a-voter" MUD elections. Heath notes that the billion-dollar MUD proposals make the contentious, countywide election over a $280 million road bond package look like "kid stuff."

Yet an attorney representing one of the developers for the three MUDs refers to these initial seven voters as "urban pioneers."

"They move onto the land and help establish new communities, paving the way for the future homeowners," said Angela Lutz, the attorney for Stoecker Corp., which plans to develop land covered by a separate MUD on Conroe's west side and also north of The Woodlands. She stressed these elections are completely legal, as well as being "typical and ordinary" and the way MUDs have operated for decades.

Rodeo Palms residents do not want rental properties built in subdivision

The Sun Advertiser reports on opposition to a plan to build up to 200 rental homes on what was once to be an exclusive residential area. Manvel's mayor told the crowd that the city cannot stop the development.

One resident told council members that she is very concerned about her property. She fears rental property will decrease the value of her home. “We do not want renters,” she said.

Another resident spoke about the Harris County and Brazoria County area. “With the resurgence of the gas and oil business, several companies are expanding.

Manvel will be affected. There will be a great need for housing which will come about because of the job opportunities that will come with this growth,” she told council.

 One of the residents questioned the prices of the homes which will be used for rental property. “We have nothing in writing. They have no master plan. We will convey information to the residents as we receive it,” assured Mayor Delores Martin.

One of the speakers who opposed the homes feels like this is a knee jerk reaction. “They need to consider building a few rentals across several subdivisions,” he explained.