What you need to know
Brooke Milbauer, an attorney with Allen Boone Humphries Robinson, the law firm representing MUD 230, said the bond election is primarily aimed at helping the district maintain its aging infrastructure, much of which was built in the 1980s.
“The city of Houston no longer dissolves and annexes MUDs. It’s not part of their policy,” Milbauer said. “That kind of puts the burden of continuing to maintain aging facilities on these districts that were created a long time ago. The district has a very small amount of bond capacity left, so it’s really just to make sure that the district has the financial ability to maintain and upkeep the quality facilities that it has.”
MUD 230 operates wastewater facilities, a treatment plant and water plant infrastructure to about 3,000 connections, Milbauer said. While the system isn’t facing any urgent issues, Milbauer said approving the bond would allow the district to plan ahead for future repairs and upgrades.
“This is a planning spot,” Milbauer said. “Motors and pumps and stuff all need upkeep and repair and replacement over time. When these facilities were built 20-30 years ago, it was a lot cheaper to build. Now, sometimes, if a pump is out, it can be a pretty expensive endeavor to replace it. We only have about $5 million left in bonding capacity, and so it’s just to make sure that we’re ensuring that we have the financial capability to be able to bond finance those repairs.”
Diving in deeper
If the bond is approved, Milbauer said MUD 230 already has several projects in the works to help keep its facilities operating efficiently, including:
- Rehabilitating wastewater treatment plant
- Replacing generators
- Expanding and improving electrical components
“If the bond election passes, it doesn’t mean that there’s $70 million going into the district’s pocket tomorrow,” Milbauer said. “It’s like a credit card limit, so it’s available for the sale of the district as needed. The other thing that I’d like to add is that it doesn’t mean that [the] tax rates are going up. Tax rates are not planning to go up. We are a very conservative district, so whenever we do go out and sell bonds, we’re looking to see, ‘OK, how much can we sell without negatively affecting the tax rate?’ We are conservative, and we want to make sure that the residents know.”
Stay tuned
Harris County residents who live in MUD 230’s boundaries will vote on the bond during the May 3 election. Early voting begins April 22. Learn more at www.harrisvotes.com.
