River Place HOA supports establishment of Limited District following annexation to the City of Austin
By Deborah Goonan, Independent American Communities
Austin’s recent annexation of the River Place subdivision has temporarily shifted certain maintenance responsibilities from a Municipal Utility District (MUD) to a Limited Improvement District (LD).
In River Place, the HOA and LD serve different functions, as explained here. In short, the LD provides maintenance of recreational areas and facilities and waste removal. The HOA manages common areas and enforcement of covenants, restrictions, and architectural standards.
However, it appears that the Master HOA and current District President have little confidence in the City of Austin to maintain the recreational areas in the subdivision to high quality standards.
So the matter of making the Limited District (LD) permanent will be decided by a vote of property owners on May 5th.
Official establishment of the Limited District would create a funding source for a higher level of services, by way of a separate property tax assessed to each property.
According to Texas statute, the LD is a public entity that must be approved petition or vote.
(b) The petition is sufficient if signed by:
(1) owners of taxable real property representing more than 50 percent of the appraised value of taxable real property liable for assessment under the proposal, as determined by the current roll of the appraisal district in which the property is located; and
(2) record owners of real property liable for assessment under the proposal who:
(A) constitute more than 50 percent of all record owners of property that is liable for assessment under the proposal; or
(B) own taxable real property that constitutes more than 50 percent of the area of all taxable real property that is liable for assessment under the proposal.(b-1) Notwithstanding Subsection (b), a petition for the establishment of a public improvement district described by Section 372.0035(a)(2) is sufficient only if signed by record owners of taxable real property liable for assessment under the proposal who constitute:
(1) more than 60 percent of the appraised value of taxable real property liable for assessment under the proposal, as determined by the current roll of the appraisal district in which the property is located; and
(2) more than 60 percent of:
(A) all record owners of taxable real property that are liable for assessment under the proposal; or
(B) the area of all taxable real property that is liable for assessment under the proposal.(Source: http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/Docs/LG/htm/LG.372.htm
Note that the decision to continue River Place’s LD will be determined by property owners, not residents or registered voters.
According to Texas Statute 372, tax assessments for the District would be determined “on the basis of special benefits accruing to the property because of the improvement.”
Listing prices of homes in River Place start at $400,000, with some home listed as high as $3 million.
Without the required number of votes from property owners, the District will be dissolved and the City of Austin will assume all of the former MUD’s maintenance and waste removal services.
RIVER PLACE RESIDENTS READY FOR MAY VOTE ON LIMITED DISTRICT STATUS AFTER AUSTIN ANNEXATION (TX)
By Rob Maxwell | 5:53 am March 13, 2018
The Four Points community of River Place is transitioning this spring after a formal annexation by the city of Austin on Dec. 15. On May 5 homeowners are invited to cast a vote for or against approving conversion to a permanent limited district, a status change from a municipal utility district, or MUD, which happened with the annexation.
A limited district is a governmental agency that manages parks and recreational facilities, such as River Place’s tennis courts, soccer fields, playgrounds, pavilions, nature trails, habitat, nature pond and the boardwalk. Additionally the limited district is responsible for single-stream recycling and solid-waste disposal.
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State rules allow the River Place Homeowners’ Association to lobby more actively. HOA Chairman Scott Crosby said the HOA voted Feb. 13 to support approval of the limited district and to support this effort…
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Should the residents not approve the limited district in May, the limited district (original MUD) will automatically be dissolved within 60 days, and the relevant services will be assumed by the city.
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