After nearly two and a half hours of discussion at a meeting July 15, San Marcos City Council determined it does not want to be part of a public improvement district, or PID, related to the proposed La Cima development in part of the city's unincorporated area.

That determination does not mean the county will not still consider approving a PID, a financial mechanism that requires property owners of a subdivision to pay an annual assessment on their property in order to fund a relatively quick development timeline.

La Cima is an update to a development agreement formerly known as Lazy Oaks Ranch, which was approved by City Council in 2013. The updated version of the development features an additional 635 acres, a corporate campus to potentially house a company headquarters and more.

At a council meeting June 3, council formed a subcommittee consisting of councilmen John Thomaides, Ryan Thomason and Wayne Becak. The subcommittee was charged with hammering out a new agreement between the city, the developer and the county, who, if a PID is approved, would be required to issue bonds in order to help fund some of the upfront infrastructural costs of building the proposed La Cima community. The bonds would be repaid via the assessments paid by residents moving into the neighborhood.

Will Conley, Hays County Precinct 3 commissioner, said the lack of mid- and upper-level housing in San Marcos has hurt the city's ability to compete with neighboring communities in attracting employers.

"Housing availability of middle income and executive housing in the city of San Marcos or around the city of San Marcos is a liability to us," he said. "That is a fact. That is an undeniable fact. This project and other projects that are being proposed and developing in our community can really get us over the top."

Progress within the subcommittee has been slow, officials said. Thomason said in the five meetings the subcommittee has had there has been about one hour of productivity.

As part of the proposal, the city would have to defer annexation of the majority of the development for 30–45 years. The city could still annex the corporate campus, which officials have estimated would account for about half of the entire development's taxable value.

Still, the lure of adding $1 billion to the city's tax base has given some council members pause when considering the developer's request for a deferral of annexation until the PID bonds are completely paid off.

"I would like to analyze us foregoing a $1 billion property tax base for 45 years and possibly forever. How is that going to affect us?" Councilwoman Lisa Prewitt said.

Prewitt and Thomaides agreed there are few concrete details known about the PID. In order for more details to come to the surface, Conley said the county needs to perform an appraisal of the property, a process that could carry a price tag of about $100,000.

But because the PID is located within the city's extraterritorial jurisdiction, the area just outside the city limits, it has the authority to protest the creation of the PID, thereby dissolving the district. The county is looking for an assurance from the city that it will not protest the PID before it begins committing too many resources to the project.

"Does the city have any issue with the county creating a PID and working with the developer and the city?" Conley said. "[So that] we could start our work and not have to worry about a six–month or a 12–month liability of a council coming back and saying, 'Well you know what, you did all that, you spent all this time and these resources, but we're going to authorize the authority the state gave us in the [extraterritorial jurisdiction] and not allow the county to create that PID.'"

Council also agreed to open the subcommittee meetings to the public. The next subcommittee meeting has yet to be scheduled, City Clerk Jamie Lee Pettijohn said.