The city of Kyle is taking action after homeowners in Bunton Creek Village were surprised with notices they owed thousands of dollars in outstanding fees for improvements made by the developer of the neighborhood.
Kyle City Council unanimously adopted an ordinance that reassesses the properties in the Bunton Creek Public Improvement District, or PID, to determine the actual amounts owed by more than 100 homeowners in the district.
The city has accounted for approximately $54,000 in improvements made by PID Holdings, the entity trying to collect assessments. Qualico, the company that owned the subdivision, made the rest of the improvements, City Attorney Ken Johnson said.
City leaders believe the entity attempting to collect assessments from homeowners does not have license to do so, Mayor Todd Webster said.
"This ordinance was a step for us as the folks that have the actual legal authority with respect to a PID to address the problem," Webster said.
In addition to reassessing the properties, the ordinance issues a finding that assessments on the properties are "excessive and invalid." The ordinance also releases liens that had been placed on homes in the district.
Webster said he could not divulge many details about the issues in the PID, however, because of "potential future litigation."
In 2005, Kyle City Council created the PID, leaving homeowners who purchased their homes on or after the 2005 ordinance's passage responsible for reimbursing the developer, which made infrastructural improvements to the water and wastewater system in the district.
City of Kyle Finance Director Perwez Moheet said collection of assessments stalled, and the developer had not been reimbursed in full for making the improvements.
But Qualico waived the assessments and the interest accrued, City Attorney Ken Johnson said.
The company now in charge of collecting assessments, PID Holdings, began billing assessments earlier this year.
Webster said the ordinance is a good first step, but there is more work to come for the council to correct the issues Bunton Creek homeowners have been faced with.
"[The homeowners] have a lot of reasons to be upset," Webster said. "This is probably the first of many actions that we are going to have to take to deal with it."