The race to pass legislation to create a Municipal Utility District (MUD) is getting, well, muddy.
More than 300 residents from Wimberley and the surrounding area showed up last week at a town hall meeting to protest the creation of a MUD on a 5,000-acre tract of land called the Needmore ranch.
Residents attended the event, hosted by the Citizens Alliance for Responsible Development (CARD), primarily to hear from Texas legislators, Rep. Jason Isaac and Sen. Donna Campbell, who filed bills HB 3918 and SB 1868, respectively, on behalf of a private property owner, Greg Lamantia, to create the MUD. Opponents say the MUD could create a giant taxation district ripe for exploitation.
CARD said in April that Lamantia told Hays County commissioners he planned to create a conservation easement on the property. However, he first wanted to create the MUD, which would increase the land’s value, thus increasing the amount of a tax write-off.
But Jim McMeans, the founder of CARD, said nothing exists in writing to indicate Lamantia’s real plans.
According to San Marcos River Foundation (SMRF) program director Dianne Wassenich, who spoke at the meeting, the property owner could develop the land for about 1,500 homes without the MUD. With it, he could develop almost 7,000 homes. And that, Wassenich said, is one reason her organization does not support the MUD.
But she also opposes the MUD because it would give a private property owner special rights, not traditional property rights as argued by Isaac. Isaac told the Hays Free Press earlier in April that he was choosing the harder right over the easier wrong in supporting the legislation.
Attorney Andrew Weber, a Wimberley resident, also spoke at the town hall meeting last week. He said that granting the MUD to an individual would allow that person to raise taxes and have the power of eminent domain – which are the powers generally granted to governments, not private individuals.
“Isaac said anyone who opposes the MUD is not in support of private property rights,” Weber said in a recent interview. “But I am absolutely aligned with promoting and protecting private property rights. Private property owners have a right to request a MUD, but not a right to obtain one.”
Weber said he is also concerned with Isaac’s bill related to eminent domain, referring to text in the bill’s preamble that does not match text later in the bill.
Weber also said the original bill would not allow the MUD the power of eminent domain if there is not a two-thirds vote in support in the state House of Representatives.
“But then the flip side of that is that if it does get the two-thirds vote, would the MUD have eminent domain?” Weber asked. “The language used in his bill creates ambiguity and conflict.”
Isaac told attendees at the meeting that he is working on an amended version of the bill. That version was not available at press time.
According to CARD, a Hays County volunteer organization, another key point of contention is that Isaac and Campbell filed legislation to create the MUD without the support and approval of the Wimberley City Council and the Hays County Commissioners Court.
Hays County Judge Bert Cobb and Pct. 3 County Commissioner Will Conley sent letters to Isaac and Campbell earlier this month expressing their disapproval of the MUD, as well as their disappointment that the legislators filed the bills without local support. Both commissioners attended last week’s meeting at which Conley spoke.
Some opponents question the timing of filing the bills, which according to Texas legislature records, show the bills were filed just days before the deadline to file new bills during this biennium.
“It may look to residents of Wimberley that the bill was filed late so there would be less time for those who disagree with it to organize an opposition,” Weber said.
If the MUD does not pass in the house and senate this spring, it would be at least another 18 months before the bills could be filed again.
