The May 4 election will see 23 seats available among nine boards: The Woodlands MUD No. 1 and Montgomery County MUD Nos. 6, 7, 36, 39, 46, 47, 60 and 67. In 2022, the MUDs saw 22 contested races. The Woodlands Metro Center MUD does not have a contested race this year.
The breakdown
The nine MUDs within the agency are governed by nonpartisan boards, and they are charged with activities such as setting retail and sewer rates as well as levying tax rates.
The wholesale water rate charged to The Woodlands Water MUDs by the San Jacinto River Authority in 2024 for groundwater is $2.78 per 1,000 gallons of treated water, with a $5.65 disposal service rate per 1,000 gallons of raw wastewater received from customers. The retail rate passed on to customers varies according to MUD, according to information on The Woodlands Water website. For example, the base rate for residential customers among The Woodlands Water MUDs ranged from $5 to $9.50, and usage rates per 1,000 gallons of monthly usage also varies.
According to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, most municipal utility district powers have the power to:
- incur debt
- levy taxes
- charge for services and adopt rules for those services
- enter into contracts
- obtain easements
- exercise eminent domain
Up for election
Here is a list of the candidates from The Woodlands Water website. An asterisk designates the incumbent.
Municipal Utility District 1 board of directors
Three seats available
Jim Beers
Byron Forbes
Andrew Freeman*
Steve Lawrence
Hartley Mackintosh*
Mindy Reynolds*
Peter Tsai
Municipal Utility District 6 board of directors
Three seats available
Glenn Cox
Patricia Goodpastor
Ronald Kutsche*
Fabian Ros
Deborah Sargeant*
Municipal Utility District 7 board of directors
Two seats available
Emily Britt
Marta Genthon
Don Sarich*
Municipal Utility District 36 board of directors
Three seats available
Pam Fontenot*
Vince Frederick
Kent Maggert
Ken Polk
Murray Smith
Municipal Utility District 39 board of directors
Three seats available
Catherine Allen
Leo Beadle
Kenneth Burks
Chris Dodd
Jennifer Hunter
Keith Lincoln
T. Jim Matthews*
Ronnie Rogers*
Ted Stanley*
Municipal Utility District 46 board of directors
Two seats available
Susanna Cronin
Dedra Ecklund*
George Newman*
Wendy Weisstein
Municipal Utility District 47 board of directors
Three seats available
Laura Norton
Jeanette Price
Brad Reel
Craig Rickard*
Cynthia Ullman*
Municipal Utility District 60 board of directors
Two seats available
Erik Anderson
William Friebel
Paul Schuh
Keith Wagner
Municipal Utility District 67 board of directors
Two seats available
Steve Briggs
Tom Buffa
Larry Copeland*
Stuart Schroeder
John Thaeler
Editor's note: This story was updated to reflect the total number of candidates and available seats.
