As the end of the 88th legislature grows near, new laws are on the horizon that could add to the development pressures the county is already facing, said one elected official.
On Monday, May 15, Williamson County Precinct 4 Commissioner Russ Boles said as the county becomes less rural due to the explosive growth associated with Samsung Austin Semiconductor and other factors, the state continues to push through bills that could limit its ability to plan.
“It’s tricky out there,” said Boles, who was the featured speaker at the monthly Greater Taylor Chamber of Commerce’s monthly luncheon, held at the Taylor Mansion Estate & Crystal Ballroom. “The city doesn’t have a lot of control. We don’t have a lot of control. The legislature, they are in control … So that is going to affect (Taylor Mayor) Brandt (Rydell) and (City Manager) Brian LaBorde with how they plan, and it’s also going to affect how we as a county plan because we are growing as a city. And for lack of a better term, we are going to get the crusty edges all around the city, which are city-like developments, and if you go this way, we are going to have more city in Williamson County than the city as the city.”
Boles said unlike home rule cities such as Taylor, which can make any law they wish unless there is a state law prohibiting it, including setting limits to development in their extraterritorial jurisdiction, the county can only act in the capacity that state law specifically allows it.
“Everything we do, I can go open up a Texas statute and point to it, that allows us to do it,” Boles said.
One limitation of the county is its inability to regulate the establishment of Municipal Utility Districts, which is a quasigovernmental entity with taxing powers used to finance infrastructure, such as water and wastewater, for housing developments that can either be approved by the Texas Commission for Environmental Quality or the state legislature.
“I don’t have any say over whether it gets approved or not, and then they are there, and so they have the ability to levy bonds to build infrastructure,” Boles said. “That’s all up to the free market … But as this is coming up, this creates additional burdens on the county.”
As an example, a new MUD of 250 acres could mean 2,000 new homes and 6,000 new county residents, adding traffic congestion on the county roads, as well as demand for additional services, Boles said.
The commissioner said the county is asking these MUDS to use some of this taxing ability to also fund road maintenance within their MUDs.
“Honestly, that gets mixed results, but we are trying to have an honest conversation with our developers,” Boles said. “With those 3,000 people comes more Sherriff services, more EMS, animal shelter, court system, prosecutors, the whole thing.”
Boles said many residents of these MUDs do not even realize they are outside of the city and therefore ineligible for certain services.
In addition, the legislature recently passed Senate Bill 2038, which is currently awaiting the governor’s signature, and could potentially do away with ETJ’s altogether and increase the number of these MUDs.
“It’s scary right now with the bills that are going through,” Boles said.
Nonetheless, Boles said the future looks bright for Williamson County, with plenty of wealth-creating development on the horizon.
“With Samsung, they have done everything that they told the county they would do,” Boles said. “Williamson County, on the appraisal district in total is worth $100. If you go and think about what Samsung has said, they are going to invest $200 billion in Williamson County. This is a game changer. And you go, ‘Russ, how does that affect me?’ A bunch of ways … The more value we have on the books, the lower your tax rate is going to be … And there is still a lot more coming.”
“If you go and think about what Samsung has said, they are going to invest $200 billion in Williamson County. This is a game changer. ”
- Russ Boles, Williamson County Precinct 4 Commissioner
