The wild world of developers and MUD’s

Each election I’m fascinated by the amount of bond debt created across Harris County and Texas by land developers using municipal utility districts and that a single voter can approve the debt. According to a 2015 study by Rice’s Kinder Institute, the total amount of Houston MUD debt was $5.8 billion. And yes, sometimes they do go bankrupt.

I decided to look at several Harris County MUD’s elections from Tuesday. Here is a link to view all the MUD’s in Texas – Water Districts Viewer. Election results here, ballot language here.

Harris County MUD 25

• Number of registered voters – 1
• Number of ballots cast – 1
• Prop A The issuance of bonds in the maximum amount of $15,700,000
• Prop B The levy of an ad valorem tax for maintenance purposes

Harris County  MUD 518

• Number of registered voters – 1
• Number of ballots cast – 2
• Prop B The issuance of $185,000,000 bonds for water, sanitary sewer, and drainage and storm sewer systems and the levy of taxes, without limit as to rate or amount, in payment of the bonds
• Prop C The issuance of $46,200,000 bonds for recreational facilities and the levy of taxes, without limit as to rate or amount, in payment of the bonds
• Prop D An operation and maintenance tax for facilities authorized by article xvi, section 59, of the Texas constitution, not to exceed one dollar and fifty cents ($1.50) per one hundred dollars ($100) valuation of taxable property
• TCEQ shows as INACTIVE.

Harris County MUD 540

• Number of registered voters – 0
• Number of ballots cast – 2
• Prop B The issuance of $215,000,000 bonds for water, sanitary sewer, and drainage and storm sewer systems and the levy of taxes, without limit as to rate or amount, in payment of the bonds
• Prop C The issuance of $30,000,000 bonds for recreational facilities and the levy of taxes, without limit as to rate or amount, in payment of the bonds
• Prop D The issuance of $35,000,000 bonds for roads and the levy of taxes, without limit as to rate or amount, in payment of the bonds
• Prop E An operation and maintenance tax for facilities authorized by article xvi, section 59, of the Texas constitution, not to exceed one dollar and fifty cents ($1.50) per one hundred dollars ($100) valuation of taxable property
• Prop F An operation and maintenance tax for road facilities authorized by article iii, section 52, of the Texas constitution, not to exceed twenty-five cents ($0.25) per one hundred dollars ($100) valuation of taxable property

Harris County MUD 565

• Number of registered voters – 2
• Number of ballots cast – 2
• Prop B The issuance of $255,810,000 in bonds and the issuance of $102,325,000 in refunding bonds and the levy of ad valorem taxes in payment of the bonds (water, sanitary sewer, drainage and storm sewer, organization and administration)
• Prop C The issuance of $40,000,000 in bonds and the issuance of $16,000,000 in refunding bonds and the levy of ad valorem taxes in payment of the bonds (macadamized, graveled, or paved roads and turnpikes, or improvements)
• Prop D The issuance of $20,410,000 in bonds and the issuance of $8,165,000 in refunding bonds and the levy of ad valorem taxes in payment of the bonds (park and recreational facilities
• Prop E The levy of a maintenance tax not to exceed one dollar and fifty cents ($1.50) per one hundred dollars ($100.00) of assessed valuation (water, sanitary sewer, drainage and storm sewer, organization and administration)
• Prop F The levy of a maintenance tax not to exceed one dollar and fifty cents ($1.50) per one hundred dollars ($100.00) of assessed valuation (macadamized, graveled, or paved roads and turnpikes, or improvements)
• Prop G The levy of a maintenance tax not to exceed ten cents ($0.10) per one hundred dollars ($100) of assessed valuation (park and recreational facilities)
• Created last legislative session by bill HB 1379 by Oliverson and Bettencourt.

That last one was created this year. If you click the link above, you can see how these things get created.

That’s a boatload of debt, here’s to hoping that they are successful. I’d think carefully before moving into a MUD.

If you don’t want to read that Kinder Report, here is a quick overview of MUDs.

Now, about those votes. Hmm. How does an entity with zero registered voters accept 2 ballots? Or an entity with 1 registered voter accept 2 ballots? Makes you wonder what is really going on at the County Clerk’s office. After all, if it takes them 12 hours to count the votes, are they just as incompetent in making certain only registered voters vote?

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