Hudson Bend Incorporation FAQs

Our motto is "Preserve Hudson Bend!".  How do we propose to do this?  By
getting out of Austin's ETJ (Extra-Territorial Jurisdiction) and officially
forming the city of Hudson Bend, and then doing as little as possible, within
reason, in the way of instituting additional regulations.

Most folks are very supportive of this idea once they learn all of the pros
and cons of incorporation.  Our website at www.hudsonbend.com has a lot of
information, including audio recordings of our meetings.  But let's address
some of the most frequently asked questions here:


- If we do nothing, how long will it be until Austin annexes us?

  We have arrived at a working number of 10 years for this.  Nobody knows for
  sure, even the City of Austin.  Keep in mind that they already extend to this
  side of Mansfield Dam, so if they reach one house more, they will have begun
  annexing Hudson Bend.


- How did this effort get started?

  When the local Facebook group had about 100 folks in it, we held a small
  meeting (25 attending) in the strip center near Frog's to discuss loose dogs,
  crime, the new mosque, the new motocross track, and incorporation.  The
  topic of incorporation seemed to grow enough legs to investigate further
  there, so a month later we held a meeting at the WCID 17 offices, with about
  30 people attending.  The attendees there demanded a subsequent meeting be
  scheduled on the spot, and so the large meeting, at the Precinct 2 offices
  across the dam, was scheduled, and a postcard was mailed to 1,219 property
  owners in Hudson Bend, resulting in 100 people attending.  The overwhelming
  sentiment there, after the audience had heard all of the pros and cons, was
  in favor of incorporation.


- What have we done so far?

  We have formally requested release from Austin's ETJ, although the city
  staff has of course been dismissive of our effort.  We do believe, though,
  that with this new 10+1 city council setup, we have a fairly good chance
  of being let out of Austin's ETJ by a vote of the city council.  We have
  a well established committee, along with a Treasurer and a bank account,
  and have met with staff from the Mayor's office and all of the city council
  districts.  We met with our County Commissioner, Gerald Dougherty, on
  August the 12th, 2015, and his office is supportive of our desire for self
  government, and is trying to provide facts and figures which will be
  helpful to us in our effort.


- Why haven't I heard about this effort until now?

  We have actually done the best we could, mostly using our own money, to get
  the word out.  One committee member spent $755 of their own money for the
  first postcard mailing, and another mailing, at roughly the same cost,
  sponsored by another committee members, came out on 08/12/2015.  We have
  also visited most of the local businesses, and of course have held meetings,
  which can heard on our web page.  The purpose of these two meetings was
  merely to get information from our invited and unbiased guest speakers
  on the pros and cons of incorporation directly to the residents who attended.

  There was what could only be described as overwhelming support for
  incorporation among those present at each meeting after they had heard
  all of the information presented by our speakers.  We continue to try to
  get this information out to as many of our residents as possible in the
  belief that eventually we will be able to show the sense of community and
  solidarity which is necessary to escape from an entity such as the City
  of Austin, because there is no guarantee that we can indeed escape at this
  point.
  
  If you haven't heard about this effort until recently, perhaps because of
  our efforts to publicize it with additional mailers and news coverage, then
  don't get angry; get involved!  Our committee members are all good folks who
  genuinely want to keep Hudson Bend the way it is now.


- Are there any alternatives to incorporation?

  Austin keeps pushing us to do a voluntary "limited purpose annexation"
  agreement, which would basically defer our annexation for a negotiated number
  of years.  This is ideal for them, since it lets the tax base grow over time
  (usually due to more apartments and condos being built), and by the time they
  annex us, we are good and profitable to them.  In the end, we are still taken
  over by Austin.  Remember that they have a very long term view of such things.
  If we want to have a chance of having a say in our own future, we must take
  action now, because, according to the law as it stands, they have a very good
  chance of winning once we are in their ETJ.  And we've been in their ETJ for
  literally years now.
  
  There is a contingent that believes that if we do nothing, then Austin will
  not annex this area for another (insert large figure here) years, by which
  time we will all be dead or not care about the property taxes.  We disagree
  with this estimate, and respectfully point out that government goes to those
  who show up.  Areas should incorporate around a sense of community, and we
  can leave this place as a special legacy for the future if we all get
  sufficiently involved.


- What is the timeline for this effort?

  We should have incorporated long ago, before we silently fell under Austin's
  ETJ.  Now that we are in it, we must petition the city council for release
  from it.  We have been lobbying to this end.  If we prevail there, then we
  can incorporate after a vote of the residents (at the next regularly
  scheduled election).  If we do not prevail with the city council, we must
  actually petition to be annexed by the City of Austin (yes, it sounds silly,
  but that's the law as is currently stands).  They then have six months to
  substantively annex us, which is to say, to vote to do it and then to start
  providing us services.  Certain services, by law, can take 2.5 years, and as
  long as 4.5 years, for them to provide.  It has been pointed out that because
  of the river between us and them, they are likely to find annexing us more
  trouble than it's worth.  This sort of petition, by the way, is how Volente
  managed to incorporate in 2003-2004.

  If they do decide to annex us, then we can take them to court based upon
  various factors, probably the most important being the lack of contiguousness
  in their District #6 and the level of service we would be likely to receive.
  After all, it's hard to compete with the great service we get from WCID #17.
  River Place is a shining example of water rates doubling and tripling after
  annexation by Austin.  Trash rates are rumored to have doubled, too.

  After, or in conjunction with, the previous steps, we can pursue legislation.
  Austin is particularly afraid of legislation, because the legislature and the
  City of Austin don't get along particularly well.  So it's a very long-term
  approach, possibly reaching into the next legislative session, but that is
  what is appropriate for such a long-term effort.


- If we form a city, how much will my property taxes rise?

  We would lose the maintenance of our roads by the County, and that would be
  our main expense as a city.  We estimate that cost to be somewhere between
  $300,000 and $400,000 per year, and that property taxes would have to
  increase by 8% to cover this cost, which we cannot recover from the County.
  We would continue to receive fire/ambulance and law enforcement services
  at no additional cost.  If Austin annexes us, our property taxes
  will rise by about 27%, according to a local source.
  
  We aren't sure what our other revenues would total (from 1% sales tax, a
  6.xx% alcohol tax, and a little bit in the way of franchise fees), and are
  working through the County Commissioner's office and State Comptroller's
  office to try to pin down these revenues, but we are not interested in
  operating a for-profit enterprise here; we just want to make enough to
  maintain the roads and pay what few expenses we would incur.  One of those
  expenses would be a City Secretary, at about $40k/year, but the idea that we
  would have to purchase a large building, hire a large staff, and the like is
  against our basic philosophy of keeping things the way they are now.


- What do we want to do, as a city, to preserve Hudson Bend?

  We want to do as little as possible, with an eye toward keeping Hudson Bend
  more or less the way it is now.  Our working list of ideas is to (1) pass a
  single-family residential zoning ordinance, to avoid the construction of too
  many condos (which would tax us out of the area), then give exemptions as
  needed/appropriate, (2) enforce deed restrictions somehow (which the County
  certainly doesn't do), and (3) stop people from stealing easements and lake
  access from their neighbors and the County, probably via the permitting
  process.  But we like the Liberty City concept, where we do as little as is
  necessary, and we intend to be true to our motto, and try as best we can to
  preserve Hudson Bend the way it is.
  
  We have had a couple of callers and meeting attendees come out in favor of
  increased regulation, property values (to drive out the riff-raff), and in
  general we must reply to them that those are not the sentiments of the
  majority of the people we talk to.  This is not to say that we cannot take
  action on flagrant violations of the principles of mutual respect that we
  must all abide by to get along -- but it is our sincere desire that this sort
  of action can be avoided by informal communications with all parties involved.


- How can I get my donation to you?  What do you do with them?

  Please see our web page for donation guidelines.  We promise you that any
  unused donations will be prorated and returned to you.  The costs of
  incorporation are mainly in the area of attorney fees, but there are also
  mailings (to inform the landowners and general public of the effort) and
  a few miscellaneous expenses, such as meals for the people who have taken
  the time to come speak at our public meetings.