You really have to admire the sheer brazenness of this.
Montgomery County Municipal Utility District No. 142 is yet another special-purpose district this election cycle using what appears to be a service that hires voters to pass MUD elections in areas without existing voters.
MUD No. 142 will be the site of The Woods of Conroe, a 92-acre subdivision west of Conroe that will include about 400 residential lots, according to previous Courier articles.
According to voter registration records, two voters list their residence at 5283 Old Highway 105 W. in Conroe, which happens to also be the site of early voting for MUD 142. The MUD 142 election is being held separate from the Montgomery County joint elections and therefore is not on the sample ballot provided by Montgomery County Elections Central.
The two voters in MUD 142 also happen to list their mailing addresses at 20615 Marilyn Lane in Spring, which is the home site of Stingray Services. According to the Stingray Services website, the company specializes in providing turn-key voter trailer installation services, and election services,” their website “About Us” says. “We have completed over 70 trailer installations in Texas over the last 10 years, and have supported nearly 100 elections. We locate residents, perform landlord services, support residents in changing their license and voter registration, and assist with the district election. We have worked with a host of major developers and engineers including Lennar, Toll Brothers, Friendswood, Land Tejas, Taylor Morrison, Pate Engineers, Brown & Gay … to name just a few.”
Emphasis mine. Read the whole thing, and see here for more on one of the other MUDs mentioned in the story. I know that all the “concern” about “voter fraud” and “election integrity” in the Legislature is so much partisan grandstanding and security theater, but you’d still think that something as egregious as this might attract a little bit of attention. Instead, the only people to get in trouble are the ones who tried to expose the sham. But hey, at least these MUD voters have to show photo ID when they vote, right? KTRK has more.
How is this brazen when it’s been going on for years? KTRK needn’t have gone to Montgomery County for this story. The fact is, it isn’t illegal or fraudulent and is how the majority of all planned residential developments in unincorporated Harris County begin. If the reporter had done basic homework she would have discovered that this is standard procedure and not the least bit unusual.
Kuff, this is how MUD’s have been established forever. my parent’ MUD was established around 1980. The developer built 3 houses, moved people in them, then had the bond election. State law requires an election to sell bonds, and that’s tough to do when you have 1000 acres of empty land to be developed. Keep in mind that no one is forced to pay the resulting taxes unless they choose to buy property within the boundaries of the MUD.
There are alternatives. One is to have the County or City fund the infrastructure. Of course, that puts the bill on everyone. Another is for the developer to front the costs, and then build that into the cost of the houses, which would make them unaffordable. Unless the Legislature changes the law, MUD’s will have to go through this process to fund the infrastructure.
The RUD voters tried to take over a political subdivision that is funded by entities that are happy to pay the taxes, but can’t vote. I have no issue with them being convicted of election fraud.
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