If House Bill 2484 passes through the Texas Legislature as predicted, Fort Bend County’s exclusive Aliana development will benefit from creation of a special management district.
But unlike most such districts created by a legislative act, the Aliana district would be allowed to levy an extra sales tax on commercial purchases.
Money raised from such a tax could be significant, as Aliana developer Revalen Development Co. has sold land to San Antonio grocer H-E-B for what Aliana’s web site says will be a “high-end hybrid grocery store” of more than 100,000 square feet.
Introduced by District 26 state Rep. Charlie Howard, R-Sugar Land, HB 2484 also would grant the special Aliana management district the right to issue bonds without calling an election, if they’re secured by “revenue or contract payments from any source” other than property taxes.
If property-owner voters give their consent in an election, the special district could levy additional property taxes, issue bonds or issue an operation and maintenance tax, according to the bill’s provisions.
More unusual, the bill would allow the district, through its board, to also issue a hotel occupancy tax and/or a sales and use tax, via an election by property owners.
As relatively few homes have been built in Aliana to date, it’s likely that the developer, owning the majority of the land, would prevail in any elections held in the near future.
Money raised through any taxes or bonds could be used for a variety of purposes benefiting the new community, such as building “pedestrian ways” along streets, providing street lighting, landscaping, parking areas, and even “street art objects,” according to the text of the bill.
Aliana has been billed as “the finest” master-planned community in the region, with homes from $250,000 to more than $1 million, nearby golf courses, spa memberships, and a community polo club including two professional polo fields.
Headed by Dallas developer Paul Cheng, Revalen bought 2,000 acres of former prison farm land from the state of Texas for about $47 million in 2005 to start Aliana.
The development is located near Shadow Hawk and the Houstonian Golf & Country Club, bordered by the Grand Parkway and F.M. 1464, east of Richmond and north of Sugar Land.
Howard’s bill, and an identical one passing through the Texas Senate after introduction by District 18 state Sen. Glenn Hegar, R-Katy, probably will become law, Howard speculated Wednesday.
The House version is on its way to the local calendar committee, and passage “shouldn’t be a problem,” he said.
