City of Cy-Fair

[editor]

In another thread it was briefly mentioned that there is talk of incorporating a city of Cypress. Or a city of Cy-Fair.

What are the pro's and con's of something like this? And what should it be called? Cypress? Cy-Fair? Something else entirely?

[VicMan]

When thinking about the name "Cy-Fair," there is one positive and one negative. On one one hand the school district is called Cy-Fair. On the other hand Fairbanks itself has been within the City of Houston since 1956: http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/FF/hvf3.html so it seems odd to have the "Fair" part in there.

[brijonmang]

I believe they would settle on "Cypress" because like Vicman said, Cy-Fair alludes to the school district/high school, also, as long as I can remember this area has been commonly referred to as Cypress.

Concerning the pros and cons - I'm not really sure how the economics side would play out but becoming it's own city would give Cypress the identity it's been trying to have for some time now.

[mrfootball]

I believe they would settle on "Cypress" because like Vicman said, Cy-Fair alludes to the school district/high school, also, as long as I can remember this area has been commonly referred to as Cypress.

Concerning the pros and cons - I'm not really sure how the economics side would play out but becoming it's own city would give Cypress the identity it's been trying to have for some time now.

I think it would be more difficult to rally the entirety of Cy-Fair (which would be the size of the City of Austin population-wise) at around 730,000. Cypress on the other hand is a bit more manageable at 200-250K+ residents.

They attempted to create a "Cy-Fair Improvement District" about 5 or 6 years ago which would've created the initial governing structures needed for a future incorporation and it nearly passed on its first time out. They should've come back and tried it again, I bet it would've passed the next time.

I'd really like to see this movement gain momentum.

[Ross]

Wouldn't this require approval from the City of Houston? How likely is that approval?

[Trae]

Not likely at all in my opinion. Houston doesn't want competition from it's suburbs....like you see in other cities (Dallas).

[TheNiche]

Wouldn't this require approval from the City of Houston? How likely is that approval?

Your question depends on the route that is pursued by locals.

If this new entity is a municipality, the municipality would have to assume the assets, debts, and operational responsibilities of all existing MUDs within its boundaries and would also have to provide municipal services that displace the services already provided by Harris County (even though residents would still have to pay the same amount of Harris County property taxes in addition to a new municipal property tax). Additionally, the City of Houston has already annexed nearly all commercial properties in that area, meaning that a new municipality's tax base would be entirely residential and would result in practically no revenues from a sales tax and a property tax rate that would be fairly high as compared to most other suburban municipalities. There are a lot of political pitfalls associated with this solution, obviously, and getting enough subdivisions on board would be difficult and probably fraught with all sorts of political intrigue and backroom deals.

As for getting the City of Houston on board, it may not be as difficult as you might think. Houston already has the commercial properties and won't ever want to relinquish those. And the problems created in cities like Dallas, where suburban economic development programs undercut the central city, simply won't be a problem for the City of Houston in northwest Harris County because any 4A/4B economic development sales tax revenue going to a new municipality would be insignificant. Furthermore, Houston has absolutely no interest in annexing residential areas because providing services would be too expensive and because it would likely add another suburban Republican vote to the Democrat-controlled City Council.

The problem with setting up a new municipality in northwest Harris County is that it probably isn't a very good idea for its own constituents. Instead, we should expect to see another attempt at getting a special district approved with the legislative authority to levy a property tax, without the obligation to interfere in the affairs of individual MUDs, and with broad discretion as to how the tax revenues are utilized. Such an entity would be able to include incorporated and unincorporated areas alike, allowing the commercial tax base to be tapped. And the City of Houston would be supportive of that approach because the opportunity to further stabilize northwest Harris County enhances the value of its commercial tax base in the area.

[AK123]

Wouldn't it have to be released from Houston's ETJ first? Or has it already...?

[Trae]

Get released. I doubt Houston would let that happen. Plus, as Niche said, a lot of the commercial areas won't be let go, or are in Houston's city limits (Willowbrook Mall for example). That's a lot of tax base that won't be in a new city.