Mayor White and State Senator Tommy Williams today announced a deal by which the city of Houston agrees not to annex The Woodlands, in exchange for a cool $45 million over the next 30 years.
KTRK-13’s Miya Shay reported the deal on her blog.
KHOU-11 followed up with this story.
And Matt Stiles filled in additional details in the Chronicle:
Voters in The Woodlands could decide as early as next year whether to take the first steps toward self-government, under a deal that also would remove the possibility of annexation by Houston, local officials announced today.
According to the agreement, the master-planned community also would enter into an economic partnership with the city to fund mutually beneficial regional projects totaling $45 million over time.
Mayor Bill White and state Sen. Tommy Williams, R-The Woodlands, heralded the deal as an example of cooperation between communities that depend on each other.
[snip]
The deal would require enabling legislation, which Williams and state Rep. Rob Eissler, R-The Woodlands, pledged to get passed in the upcoming session.
Woodlands residents then could vote next year, most likely in November, on whether to expand an existing improvement district — which already collects a sales tax in parts of The Woodlands — as a first step toward possible incorporation.
That sounds like a real winner for Mayor White, who still gets some revenue and gets to avoid making a lot of people in The Woodlands mad as he gears up for a possible statewide political race.
It will be interesting to see what some of our Woodlands-area bloggers have to say about the deal.
BLOGVERSATION: Lone Star Times, Lose an Eye, It’s a Sport, Off the Kuff.
