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TexasLand USA Theme Park vs. Rural Texas: A Fight for the Land We Call Home
Follow the Penny - What Happens After the CAD Vote
On November 4, 2025, Waller County voters rejected creation of a County Assistance District (CAD) by a margin of 684 FOR / 1,726 AGAINST, according to unofficial final results from the Elections Administrator.
Turnout was about 16 % among eligible voters outside city limits and ETJs.
The CAD would have allowed the county to claim the final 1 % of local sales tax — keeping millions of dollars for public roads, drainage, and safety instead of leaving it open for private developers to capture.
Although the measure failed, the question remains: Who controls that last penny — the community or developers like TexasLand USA?
What’s at Stake
Most purchases in Texas already include a 8.25% sales tax. Here's where it goes:
- 6.25% – State of Texas
- 1% – Emergency Services (ESD 200: fire & EMS)
- 1% – unclaimed in unincorporated Waller County
This wasn’t a new tax — it simply would have claimed that final 1% to fund roads, drainage, public safety, and infrastructure right here at home.
If the CAD had passed
- We claim the final 1% locally.
- The full 2% local sales-tax capacity is used for public purposes.
- Revenue that might otherwise default to the state stays here.
- A private district — like the one TexasLand USA wants — can no longer tap into that 1%.
Because the CAD didn't pass
- The 1% stays on the table.
- A developer-controlled Municipal Management District (MMD) can try to capture it inside their project.
- Or it may never be claimed locally — and flows to Austin.
- That’s now the scenario facing Waller County — and why the next steps matter.
How Developers Gain Power — Without a Public Vote
This didn’t start with the CAD vote — it began with a surprise bill filed quietly in Austin.
In May 2025, House Bill 5685, introduced by Rep. Kitzman, would have created a special improvement district for the TexasLand USA site — granting powers to tax, borrow, and self-govern. The required public notice appeared only in the Houston Chronicle, not any local paper, so almost no one in Waller County knew it existed until it was nearly too late. Community outrage spread quickly once the news broke. Residents mobilized, and the bill was eventually pulled.
TexasLand USA had already stated its intent to seek approval from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) to create a Municipal Management District (MMD) — a special improvement district with the power to tax, borrow, and operate largely without voter oversight.
With the CAD now off the table, that path becomes easier.
The concern isn’t that nearby residents would pay those taxes directly — it’s that public taxing authority could shift into private hands, setting a precedent that invites other large developments to follow suit.
What the CAD Vote Means Now
The CAD vote may be over, but the larger issue isn’t.
The same 1 % sales-tax authority remains unclaimed, and that makes it a target for private developer districts.
The outcome reminds us that transparency and community control still matter — because once a developer gains the right to tax and borrow, the public rarely gets that authority back.
