Homes in Edgewood Creek's next 136-lot section would carry assessments averaging about $2,943 a year

Buyers of the next 136 homes in the Edgewood Creek neighborhood would take on special assessments averaging about $2,943 a year per lot, on top of regular property taxes, under financing the Celina City Council takes up at its 4:30 p.m. meeting Tuesday at 112 N. Colorado St.

The money pays for streets, drainage, water and sewer lines in the subdivision's third section, which sits inside Edgewood Creek's public improvement district east of FM 1385, north of FM 428 and south of Mobberly Drive. The council created the district in May 2020. It covers about 246.5 acres planned for roughly 852 houses, built in stages.

Three votes in a row

The council first holds a public hearing and votes on levying assessments on Improvement Area No. 3, about 72 acres platted for 136 houses on 50-foot lots. Staff estimate the work there, including administrative costs and that area's share of bond issuance costs, at about $9.33 million. The assessments to be levied total $3.5 million.

The developer is already building that section's infrastructure and expects to finish in the fourth quarter of this year.

If the levy passes, the council then considers selling special assessment revenue bonds, with FMSbonds Inc. as underwriter. The estimated principal is $7.646 million, equal to the new $3.5 million in assessments plus $4.146 million still owed on assessments the city placed on the neighboring Improvement Area No. 2 in 2025.

That earlier section, planned for 158 houses, was financed through a reimbursement agreement with the developer and no bonds; part of the new bond issue would refinance that agreement.

The last vote is an interlocal agreement with Mustang Special Utility District, which will own and maintain the water and sewer lines the bonds pay for. The city will own the roads and storm drains.

What a lot would owe

A presentation in the council packet estimates each lot in the third section would carry a $25,735 assessment, paid in yearly installments averaging about $2,418. Each lot also carries about $5,789 of an earlier assessment for major roads and utilities serving the later phases, bringing the combined balance to about $31,525 and the combined yearly installment to about $2,943.

The figures are estimates and could change once the bonds are priced.

Put in tax-rate terms, the two assessments equal about 51 cents per $100 of value. Added to this year's overlapping city, county and school tax rates, the packet puts the total burden at about $2.47 per $100 for lots in Prosper ISD and about $2.48 for lots in Celina ISD.

City staff say the assessments do not touch the city's operating budget, and the bonds are repaid only from the assessments on property in the district. The city is not responsible for operating or maintaining the water and sewer lines, according to the staff memo on the Mustang agreement. Staff recommend approval of all three items.

Sources

celinatx.api.civicclerk.com

celinatx.api.civicclerk.com