DENTON COUNTY - A special taxing district is poised to issue $1.36 million in bond debt for Wellington Trace and the Gates at Waters Edge, though few residents, if any, are aware of the potential tax burden to come.
Also on the agenda for last week's meeting of the Oak Point Water Control and Improvement District No. 2, just outside the city of Oak Point, was a potential bid to purchase water rights to the neighborhood from Terra Southwest.
If the bonds are sold, the debt burden for this neighborhood of about 100 families could increase more than $4,500 for each man, woman and child.
John Sullivan, secretary of the board of directors, said the board did not meet as scheduled last week in Carrollton, for lack of a quorum.
Sullivan couldn't say when the meeting would be rescheduled or whether the bond budget would include the purchase from Terra Southwest.
"I couldn't comment without the reports in front of me," Sullivan said.
Several Wellington Trace residents weren't aware of the meeting or the potential for a bond sale. Some complained that they didn't know how to reach the board of the special taxing district that governs their neighborhood.
Special taxing districts are often used by developers to finance the public improvements of their projects, such as water and sewer lines. The Oak Point district authorized more than $4 million in bonds in 2005, but it is unclear whether those bonds had ever been issued. The Texas Bond Review Board has no records for the district.
Marsha Garcia, a member of the homeowners' association board of directors, said via e-mail that they had been trying to find out more information about the special taxing district and plans for the neighborhood for some time. Neither the city nor Denton County has accepted responsibility for maintaining the streets in the development. The original developer went bankrupt and the project has changed hands several times.
"I feel like our community not only fell through the cracks, we were also left in the dark," Garcia said.
None of the four board members - President Thomas McMurray, Vice President Eric Schmitz, Assistant Secretary Jason Lewis, or Sullivan, the district's secretary - live in the district, according to records with the Denton Central Appraisal District. State law requires a board to own land in any special district it governs. Sullivan said he was aware of the requirements and that he does own property there, but could not immediately identify which parcel he owned.
About half of the 55-acre development was built before the original developer went bankrupt, just about 100 homes off Hill Road in Oak Point's extraterritorial jurisdiction.
According to records with the Denton County tax-assessor collector, the total value of property in the district is about $15.2 million. Similar to property in many other special taxing districts, Wellington homeowners have been assessed $1 per $100 valuation annually. Taxes for the special taxing district are in addition to county and school taxes.
The tax rate yielded $152,000 for the district in 2011, although only about $138,000, or 91 percent of taxes due, had been paid as of last week, according to the Denton County tax office.
Some of the outstanding accounts include vacant lots now owned by PointBank, according to tax records.
After running a report, Michelle French, the county's deputy tax-assessor collector, said via e-mail it appeared fairly common that banks or savings and loans were currently among the county's outstanding accounts.
"Keep in mind they have until the end of January to pay and still be considered timely payments," French said.
PEGGY HEINKEL-WOLFE can be reached at 940-566-6881. Her e-mail address is pheinkel-wolfe@dentonrc.com.
WATER DISTRICT TIMELINE
2002
August Oak Point subscribes for up to 375,000 gallons-per-day sewer service for developer
2003
February Original agreement between Oak Point and developer to form a special taxing district
Developer pays $520,398 for engineering, construction, other costs for sewer
September Whitewater Construction contracts to build sewer lines and lift station
2004
April Strittmatter Construction contracts to build water well and public water system
2005
July Texas Commission on Environmental Quality consents to special taxing district
September District holds confirmation election; authorizes $4,709,962 in bond debt
Developer pays $196,254, a pro-rata share for sewer main to Peninsula Plant
2006
December PlainsCapital Bank forecloses on 33 lots in Phase 1 and all lots in Phase 2 on Dec. 5.
Another developer, 720 Development, acquires the foreclosed property on Dec. 29
2007
March Earth Tech contracts to drill water well and build public water system
2008
January Jagoe Public contracts to build sewer line
2009
September Dallas-based Jefferson Bank acquires 720 Development, including 26 remaining lots in Phase 1 and all lots in Phase 2
Source: City of Oak Point
BY THE NUMBERS
A special taxing district for two Oak Point subdivisions has announced it will sell $1.36 million in unlimited tax utility bonds. Below is a comparison of that debt burden for the residents of Wellington Trace and the Gates at Waters Edge to the average city debt burden in Texas (of those 61 percent of Texas cities that carry tax-supported debt).
Total property values
$15.2 million
Debt as percent of property values
8.9 percent
Debt as percent of values, statewide average
9.4 percent
Debt per capita*
$4,533
Debt per capita, statewide average
$1,408
*Of the 130 properties in the district, about 100 have homes. Population count estimates three residents per household.
Source: Texas Bond Review Board, Denton County tax-assessor collector
