Isaac churning out the MUD bills; HB 3832 probably the biggest gift to developers

This far-reaching bill approves spending that citizens and taxpayers will not be able to contest, and which we can ill afford. There is increasing use of phrases in bills that say voters do not have to be consulted at all for spending that has been outlined in a very general and limitless way

Note: State Rep Jason Isaac's latest electronic newsletter to District 45 constituents (Hays, Blanco and Caldwell counties) makes no mention of the Municipal Utility District and Hays County Development District No. 1 bills he has introduced thus far in his first term in the Legislature. It looks like Isaac is doing a fine job for his land development constituency. All these bills grant taxing and bond sale authority and are skating right along in the legislative process. They will likely wind up on the Local Consent Calendar, which is the free pass place for locally directed legislation.

Three other actually worthwhile bills filed by Isaac, HB 1515 that would put a temporary hold on college tuition increases and HB 2180 that would reduce the noise from outdoor entertainment venues in unincorporated areas, have been hung up in committee since early March. Isaac's HB 3083, to exempt exemplary and recognized school districts from standardized testing for the following one or two school years, has been idle in the House Public Education Committee since mid-March.

Send your comments and questions to roundup.editor@gmail.com, to Ms. Hopson at hopsonbarbara@yahoo.com, to Rep. Isaac at Jason.Isaac@house.state.tx.us (512-463-0647) or click on the "comments" button at the bottom of the story

TexasTribune.org

By Barbara Hopson
Special to the RoundUp

State Rep Jason Isaac (R-Dripping Springs/Belterra) has so far authored four bills to create Municipal Utility Districts (MUDs). The bills all are captioned "providing authority to impose a tax and issue bonds; granting a limited power of eminent domain."

The proposed MUDs are in Hays or Caldwell counties, and the bills are HB 2182 and 2893 (Ranch at Clear Fork Creek MUD No.2), HB 2183 (Ranch at Clear Fork Creek MUD No.1), and HB 3813 (Hudson Ranch Water District). Every MUD is essentially a gift to a land developer, allowing him to tax the people who will live in the area covered by the MUD, to help him pay doing-business expenses.

More alarming and far-reaching than his MUDs, however, is Isaac's HB 3832, "Relating to the Hays Development District No. 1." The Texas Legislature's website shows that the bill was filed on March 31. This legislation offers extensive additions to legislation enacted by the Legislature in 2001. The upshot of the proposed additions is to grant authority to Hays County to spend taxpayer money on almost anything under the sun, and without voter approval. Read the text of the bill, which shows additions by underlining. Especially note Sec 5A which shows all the new items for which your tax money can be spent. Go to the middle icon (HTML) under "Text" and see the (marked-through) wording that is to be omitted from the legislation – phrases such as "after approval by voters at an election."

Sec. 5 is aptly named "Powers." Under Sec. 5A, "Improvement Projects," taxpayers could wind up paying for such corporate frills as advertising, ornate fountains, skywalks, heliports, lakes, golf courses, trails, archways, banners, and almost anything else the developers deem desirable.

This far-reaching bill approves spending that citizens and taxpayers will not be able to contest, and which we can ill afford. There is increasing use of phrases in bills that say voters do not have to be consulted at all for spending that has been outlined in a very general and limitless way.

Especially if you live in Hays County, you need to read HB 3832. It is lawmaker's language for "Dripping Springs Conference Center and General Boondoggle." It is brought to you by land owners and developers who want to make big bucks by selling the pipe dream that a big "conference center" will bring in jobs and business to the Dripping Springs area. This center would be off RR 12, south of the Hwy 290/RR 12 intersection. The site is more than 500 acres in size.

As is usually the case, this sort of Chamber-of-Commerce-economic development-type Trojan horse project – all the planning, construction, paying off of bonds, etc. – will cost taxpayers far more than any economic benefit the community may derive. The profit will go to the people who sell the land to the developers, and to the developers themselves.

There will be some minimum-wage jobs picking up trash and flipping burgers. Even the construction jobs will mostly go to big outfits in Austin, Houston, or San Antonio – where there are firms familiar with this large-scale construction. Local constructors may build a sidewalk or two, or put up a fence.

The local economic development ambassadors will say that people who flock to conferences at the Center will have to pay for lodging and food, but the hotels and the restaurants will be on the premises (or periphery) of the conference center, and customers will only enrich the hotel and restaurant corporate owners. Dripping Springs may take in some sales tax revenue. Visitors may have to pay a hotel occupancy tax when they come to town, but that income will be far overshadowed by the taxes and assessments that citizens will fork over to pay off the bond indebtedness for the next 30 years.