Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe over at the DRC does a good job exposing another "municipal utility district" in Denton County that is set to be created. Developers of the Shiney Hiney Development Corp (SHDC Partners Ltd) have thrown another random Joe Blow onto a 1000 acres of property and he will be the lone vote to create the district this month. This has been the m.o. of developers in the state, in what has been called "developer welfare".
Special districts go back many years in Texas and most operate under the Texas Water Code because they were created for rural areas who needed water. Developers decided they would be a good way to develop large tracts outside of cities without the support of city funds, thus the special districts. Denton County has been fond of the Fresh Water Supply District (FWSD) and Water Control & Improvement District (WCID) method. Areas like Houston have the Municipal Utility District (MUD). Each have their own slight variations in powers over roads and water/sewer under the Code.
The more I hear about these things the more it intrigues me. I was recently elected to my own board of directors for one of these districts that controls part of Paloma Creek. But what spurred me to get on the board, was the somewhat opaque nature of the projects. Case in point, Shiney Hiney. A random 30 year old from Dallas is plopped down in a trailer on a plot of land to vote in hundreds of millions of dollars in bonds, and to vote on five people who do not even live in the area to serve as the governing body. That has been the exact same method of creation of every district in Denton County that operates under these auspices. It is no doubt good for the developer. They get paid back for fronting the money to build. Win win for them. It is also win win for many of these local towns. They don't have to build infrastructure, but can later expand and incorporate the districts into their city limits many years later.
But it seems it is win lose for residents. The tax burden on local residents is higher than in a city. I personally pay $1/$100 in taxes just to my local water district. Compare that to most cities who levy somewhere around 30 to 40 cents. Residents also are faced with trying to figure out who controls what, especially when you have the water districts contracting with other government entities to provide local services.
Transparency is definitely an issue in government and that is why myself and other neighbors have been elected to our board. We want what is best for where we live. Hopefully the Shiney Hiney will be a shiney as they expect it to be, and not just an ass.
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