Residents moving into Tomball’s Raleigh Creek neighborhood near Zion Road will see added fees in their property taxes because of a new agreement between the neighborhood’s developer and the city.
At its Nov. 2 meeting, Tomball City Council approved a fee assessment collection agreement with Raleigh Creek developer LS Developers LLC. The development company worked with the city to create Public Improvement District No. 2, where Raleigh Creek was built.
PID assessment fees will be due at the same time as property taxes, Tomball Finance Director Glenn Windsor said. Beginning Nov. 2, Harris County officials collect the fees, send the funds to the city of Tomball and turn them over to the developer’s financing partners, he said.
“If somebody buys a house in Raleigh Creek, there’s going to be an amount that is due in addition to the property taxes out there,” Windsor said.
The fees help cover initial costs of developing land and extending utilities to a new area of the city, Windsor said.
“That’s the whole purpose of a PID,” he said. “The people that benefit the most from the utilities out there are the ones that pay for [them]. The cost is not spread to the rest of the citizens of Tomball.”
The formation of PID No. 2 was approved in April 2007, and a service and assessment plan was approved for the PID in August 2013, according to city archives. Construction started on the subdivision in June 2014.
Jim Spurlin, owner and developer with LS Developers LLC, said the amount of PID fees residents pay will vary as more people begin to move into Raleigh Creek. Builders are nearing completion on the first 35 homes in the neighborhood, which will total 340 homes at build-out.
Spurlin said residents will pay fees for no more than 15 years after moving in, and the time frame could be shorter if the initial assessment costs are paid off earlier.
“It depends on how fast the PID is paid off,” Spurlin said. “It could be paid off in eight to 10 years if enough houses are sold and enough money is paid into it. But there is a 15-year time limit, so even if [the PID] is not paid off, [the fees] still go away.”
Earlier this year, City Council also approved a development agreement for PID No. 5, Yaupon Trails. While the creation of the PID has been approved, Windsor said it could still be a long time before an assessment agreement can be drawn up and fees could be collected from residents.
“[That neighborhood has] got a long way to go,” he said.