The Woodlands Township Director Eissler talks about recent anti-annexation vote

THE WOODLANDS, TX – Earlier this week, The Woodlands Township Board of Directors unanimously voted – 7 to 0 – to approve an amendment to the Regional Participation Agreement with the City of Houston. The original agreement, established in 2007, created the Regional Participation Fund, which was funded through a portion of sales tax revenues generated in The Woodlands for qualifying regional projects. The agreement also provided long-term protection from annexation by the City of Houston and became an important part of the framework for the future governance of The Woodlands.

Under the amendment approved by the Township Board, the fund structure would end, eliminating The Woodlands Township’s ongoing obligation to allocate a portion of its sales tax revenues to it. The terms include payments totaling $27.4 million from the Township to the City of Houston, spread over the next three years. The amendment would also release restrictions on approximately $22.6 million in sales tax revenue accumulated over the past 20 years and currently held in the fund, making those funds available for the City of Houston’s use.

Once these payments are completed in 2030, annual sales tax revenues previously required to be allocated to the fund would remain with The Woodlands Township and be available for Township priorities. Based on current projections, those revenues are estimated to average approximately $4.5 million annually, providing significant additional financial resources for the Township over the long term.

The amendment would also provide greater certainty regarding the future governance of The Woodlands. If approved by Houston, the updated agreement would eliminate the possibility of future annexation of The Woodlands Township by the City of Houston while keeping the Township within Houston’s extraterritorial jurisdiction.

The day after the vote, Woodlands Online spoke with Township director Craig Eissler, voted to the board for Position 4 and subsequently voted as Vice Chairman.

What are your thoughts about last night's vote?

Yeah, I thought it went well. It was a really good process, in my opinion. A lot of residents showed up and had some questions and concerns, and last night gave us the opportunity to get things out in the open and address those questions and concerns. I think it gave everyone the perspective that we’ve been talking about, for months about this deal.

Are you surprised about the unanimous vote from the board in favor of this amendment?

I think the end result, you know, a seven-to-nothing vote, shows not just The Woodlands but also the city of Houston that we’re aligned, and we truly have the interest of the residents in mind.

There were several years left in the original terms of the Regional Participation Agreement. Why propose, vote on, and accept this amendment now and not later?

Yeah, we had quite some time. And that came up last night; a couple of the residents asked, “Why the rush?” There are two things in response. One, it’s that this agreement kind of provides Houston with their immediate need for cash on hand. And then, two, for us, in the long term it provides us more financial stability. So on the front end, it’s good for the City of Houston now, in my opinion. It’s also good for the Woodlands now, because the sooner we do this deal, the sooner we get to start retaining a sales tax that we would have been paying the same to Houston.

The amendment prohibits Houston from ever annexing The Woodlands; however, the city of Conroe is itself growing considerably in population and area. Are you going to have to start looking northbound to make sure The Woodlands doesn’t get targeted by Conroe for annexation?

No, I don't think so. We still have our regional participation agreement with them. What part of the agreement we had last night keeps the portion of The Woodlands in the City of Houston’s ETJ [Extraterritorial Jurisdiction, which is a designated buffer area of unincorporated land located just outside a municipality’s official corporate limits - ed.] in that ETJ. So that removes any concerns of annexing that part of the Woodlands. And, as Chairman Bailey mentioned last night, if the City of Conroe is interested in a similar type of deal, we’re happy to talk.

What is the immediate next step in this process?

It’s been voted here. The City of Houston is next to vote, and then the amendment is ratified. Houston City Council tagged it yesterday in their meeting. They’re going to review it in their budget committee, and then they will vote on it on Wednesday.

Stay tuned to Woodlands Online for updates to this topic and other governmental affairs throughout The Woodlands.