Updated Dec. 11, 2014 at 1:55 p.m. CST

On Dec. 22 at midnight, residents of the Bella Vista and Twin Creeks neighborhoods will become official residents of the city of Cedar Park.

Cedar Park City Council gave final approval to annex the neighborhoods Dec. 11.

Bella Vista is a municipal utility district, or MUD, and Twin Creeks includes two water control improvement districts. The annexation means residents will stop paying district property taxes and instead pay the city monthly utility debt service fees, which vary by district. Residents will also pay the city's tax rate.

Bella Vista and Twin Creeks residents will receive city services such as police and fire protection, and be able to participate in city elections and receive city rates for library and pool memberships.

City Council members such as Mayor Matt Powell congratulated residents present for the vote.

"After about 17 months of trying, here we are [at the] final votes," Powel said.

Ross Burns, president of the Twin Creeks homeowners association, and Veronica Frederick, president of Bella Vista HOA, thanked city leaders and staffers on behalf of their subdivisions.

"It's been 17 months for you guys, but it's been about five years for some of us," Frederick said, referring to residents' two petition drives for annexation in 2013 and 2014. "It took you guys a while to come around to the concept of annexing us. It's been a pleasure to work with you."

Frederick also thanked attorneys with the Bella Vista district. She said they effectively put themselves out of business by working to find solutions to make city annexation work.

"We put a lot of hard work into it, and I'm glad to finally see it happen," Burns said.

City Council's vote to approve the annexations was 5-0. Place 3 Councilman Lyle Grimes and Place 6 Councilman Don Tracy were absent from the special-called meeting.

Updated Dec. 5, 2014 at 11 a.m. CST

Residents of the Bella Vista and Twin Creeks neighborhoods southwest of Cedar Park may see changes in their utility bills starting with the first billing cycle in January.

On Dec. 4, Cedar Park City Council heard the first readings of ordinances that would annex the two Twin Creeks districts and Bella Vista district southwest of Cedar Park into the city. After the annexations each house in each district would pay monthly utility debt service fees to offset their districts' debt that the city assumes upon annexation. The monthly amounts include:

• Bella Vista municipal utility district (MUD)—$22.50
• Twin Creeks water control and improvement District (WCID) 1F—$22
• Twin Creeks WCID 1G—$44
• Twin Creeks Country Club golf course—$670, equivalent to 15 residential units of $44 each

If the annexation is approved, residents will also take on a lower property tax rate under the city rather than their original distinct MUD and WCID property tax rates. The new city residents would receive services from the Cedar Park police and fire departments instead of the current service from the Travis County Sheriffs Department and the Volente Fire Department as part of Travis County Emergency Services District No. 14.

City Council plans a final annexation vote at a special-called meeting scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 11.

During the Dec. 4 meeting Place 2 Councilman Corbin Van Arsdale said he had spoken with area residents who still favored the annexation process. In summer 2014 a majority of district residents signed annexation petitions, which was their second such attempt to request city annexation. But Van Arsdale asked when—if the annexation goes through—would the new city residents be able to start voting in city elections or running for office.

Mayor Matt Powell said he recalled a similar annexation in 1995, after which a resident of the annexed area, former Cedar Park Mayor Bob Lemon, ran for City Council in the next election.

Powell said residents in newly annexed portions of the city are considered city residents for as long as they have been living at their current address. The city requires residency for at least one year to run for City Council. For example, a homeowner in Bella Vista or Twin Creeks would need to have been a resident by May 2014 to file as a City Council candidate for the May 2015 election.

Original story posted Oct. 13, 2014 at 11:27 a.m. CST

Cedar Park City Council will decide in December whether to annex two subdivisions that would add 858 acres and about 1,400 houses to the city of Cedar Park.

City Council members approved a final schedule for the proposed voluntary annexations on Oct. 9. City Council will hold public hearings for annexation on Oct. 29 and Nov. 6. The schedule sets Dec. 1 for the first reading and Dec. 18 for the second reading and final vote.

The Bella Vista and Twin Creeks subdivisions are located south of Cedar Park. In September residents signed petitions in support of a full annexation by the city. The annexation would bring to the subdivisions city services such as fire and police protection. Residents would pay a new monthly utility debt service fee and city property taxes instead of taxes to their original districts—Twin Creeks has two water control improvement districts, or WCIDs, and Bella Vista is within its own municipal utility district, or MUD.

City Planning Manager Amy Link said all three districts presented petitions with at least 50 percent of residents' signatures, the threshold for City Council to consider proceeding with a proposed voluntary annexation. About 80 percent of Twin Creeks WCID 1F residents, 72 percent of WCID 1G residents, and 59 percent of Bella Vista MUD residents signed petitions in favor of annexation.

Twin Creeks HOA president Ross Burns told City Council that he helped collect residents' signatures in 2014 and also during a previous attempt at voluntary annexation in 2013. That effort fell through in December when new information came to light about the districts' financial practices.

"The numbers overwhelmingly prove that people want to be in the city," Burns said. "More specifically, the people want the fire protection services that you can give us."

Cedar Park Mayor Matt Powell said he supports the annexations for all three districts.

"It's a great neighborhood and it needs to be part of the city," Powell said.