A deal for the Woodlands

So the Woodlands may not become part of Houston after all.

Voters in The Woodlands could decide as early as next year whether to take the first steps toward self-government under a deal that also would remove the possibility of annexation by Houston, local officials announced Thursday.

The agreement marks a dramatic shift in how potential boundary takeovers have been handled. Mindful of acrimonious debates that erupted when Houston annexed Clear Lake and Kingwood, local officials said they worked hard to avoid a similar situation with The Woodlands.

What it means for people in The Woodlands is a chance to make decisions about their community without the threat of becoming a part of Houston.

It also provides the master-planned community of about 84,000 a chance to be a regional player for the first time. Under the agreement, The Woodlands would enter into an economic partnership with the city to fund mutually beneficial regional projects totaling $45 million over time.

[...]

Thursday's proposal would require legislation, which [State Sen. Tommy] Williams and state Rep. Rob Eissler, R-The Woodlands, pledged to get passed in the upcoming session.

Lawmakers need to pass at least two bills - one to expand an existing improvement district to collect sales taxes in all of The Woodlands and one to make it possible for Houston and The Woodlands - and other cities and communities in the future - to enter into a regional agreement.

With the new laws in place, The Woodlands residents then could vote in November on whether to expand the existing improvement district - which already collects a sales tax in the retail district of The Woodlands - as a first step toward possible incorporation.

I'm guessing that a part of the negotiation process here was to sound out various other legislators, especially those from Houston, to make sure those two bills can be passed. I presume therefore that there's no strong objections to it among the Houston delegation. Anything is possible, of course, but that would be my guess.

The agreement, which also would need approval from the Houston City Council and the various governing boards in The Woodlands, would not affect Conroe's plans to annex Harper's Landing, the only Woodlands neighborhood east of Interstate 45 and not within Houston's expansion boundaries.

Something for everyone in this deal!

Under the terms of the proposed deal, Houston would agree to release The Woodlands from its extraterritorial jurisdiction - a distinction in state law that would allow annexation. That would allow residents to decide after 2014 whether to incorporate or choose another form of local self-governance.

In return, The Woodlands would give up an initial $16 million to pay for certain regional projects. The money would come from existing local funding sources to be determined. It would not come from increases in municipal utility district fees or property tax increases.

The projects would include $3 million for improvements to Lake Houston Park, much of which is in Montgomery County; $3 million for other major parks, including Memorial and Hermann; $5 million for road improvements at the Texas Medical Center, and a $5 million contribution to a planned project that would extend the Hardy Toll Road closer to downtown.

The Woodlands also would make another $29 million in payments from sales taxes during the next 30 years.

I presume that the money for these projects, some of which have no clear connection to the Woodlands, is to make up for the property and sales tax revenue that Houston would have received post-annexation. One wonders what "existing local funding sources" they have in mind here. Sixteen million bucks is a lot of money for a burg the size of the Woodlands. If they're not creating a new revenue stream to cover it, they either have it lying around already (must be nice), they expect to divert it from other projects, or they might come up with a way to borrow it. We'll see.

Jeff Long, president of The Woodlands Community Association board of directors, also was surprised by the announcement.

''The beneficial portion so far is being out from under the threat of annexation. That was paramount," Long said. "But the devil is in the details. We knew all along that there would be a price, so whether I can live with it or not, I have to study it first."

Indeed. Stace thinks Houston should have pursued annexation anyway, while this KHOU story suggests taxes will indeed rise for Woodlanders. I wish Tom had blogged about this, I'd love to know what his take is.

Posted by Charles Kuffner on December 08, 2006 to Elsewhere in Houston | TrackBack