Waller County commissioners voted to partner with a Fort Bend County law firm to begin work on creating a county assistance district, the purpose of which would be to help the county focus local sales tax revenue on specific local projects.

Commissioners took this action at their July 13 meeting following a presentation by Rich Muller, an attorney with Muller Law Group in Fort Bend County.

Muller said under Texas law, the maximum sales tax rate is 8.25%. Under this arrangement, the state received 6.25% and a local entity receives the remaining 2%. Muller said the goal of a county assistance district, called a CAD, is to capture the sales tax revenue where those local taxes were not being applied, or were being taken and used somewhere else.

Muller said Fort Bend County has 19 such CADs. In 2021, he said. these CADs collected $16.8 million for local projects. These projects include roads, police, libraries, museums, parks, firefighting, and economic development and tourism.

He cited three examples.

• Fort Bend County CAD #1, created over the Cinco Ranch portion of Grand Parkway and westward extension of Westpark Tollway. In 2021, Muller said, this CAD collected $6.1 million to be used for roads and a future county library.
• Fort Bend County CAD #3, created over commercial areas of the Grand Parkway between Westpark Tollway and US 90A. In 2021, Muller said, this CAD collected $2.4 million to be used for improvements connecting to the Grand Parkway.
• Fort Bend County CAD #6, created over State Highway 6 in Houston’s extraterritorial jurisdiction. In 2021, Muller said, this CAD collected $1.9 million for road work in the Mission Bend area.

“The money has to be spent in the district,” Muller said. “The sales tax stays there.”

He said if Waller County wanted to establish its own CAD, or CADs, it was better to get started sooner than later. Given that the county has large unincorporated areas and relatively few cities with limited extraterritorial jurisdiction areas, a CAD might be useful for road repair work. Muller said recent changes to city annexation laws reduce the likelihood of future city expansion, while there is more demand for services in the unincorporated areas of the county.

Muller said commissioners had options if they wanted to proceed with creating a CAD. Commissioners could create a single, county-wide CAD. They could create a CAD for each of the four precincts. Or, they could follow Fort Bend County’s example, and establish smaller CADs as desired. Commissioners ultimately voted for Muller’s firm to prepare for the creation of one CAD.

Muller said commissioners court must call an election to form a CAD within the boundaries of that proposed CAD. It would require a 60-day notice to municipalities that have territory within that proposed CAD.

A majority vote in the proposed district would create the CAD. Commissioners would either govern the district or appoint a separate board to perform governance duties.