AVOIDING ANNEXATION

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Community Impact Newspaper • impactnews.com
FEATURES
INSIDE INFORMATION
Compiled by Brian Walzel
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The Woodlands Township
Regional Participation Agreements
When legislation was passed in 2007 establishing the township form of government in
The Woodlands, so too were agreements with the cities of Conroe and Houston that would
prevent them from annexing the community.
As part of those agreements, called Regional Participation Agreements, The Woodlands
Township agreed to make significant financial contributions over the next 30 years to Conroe
and Houston for construction or improvement projects that are deemed mutually beneficial,
according to the township.
Under the RPAs, projects deemed mutually beneficial between The Woodlands and
Houston and Conroe include:
Mobility projects, such as
improvements to highways,
traffic circulation and transit
Improvements, maintenance,
and construction of parks and
greenspaces
Improvements to health care
treatment facilities, research,
teaching or educational
facilities
INITIAL PAYMENT
Improvements and
construction projects to
regional water supplies,
drainage and flood control
Funding public safety
improvements, including
law enforcement, fire and
emergency medical services,
and homeland security
As part of the RPA with the city of Houston, the township
made an initial payment in 2007 of $16 million.
Of that the $16 Million:
•$3 million paid for improvements at Lake Houston State Park
•$3 million paid for improvements at MacGregor, Memorial and Hermann Brown parks
•$5 million paid for improved access in and out of the Texas Medical Center at MacGregor
and Cambridge overpasses
•$5 million paid for improved mobility access from Hardy Toll Road to downtown Houston
For its initial contribution to the city of Conroe, the township paid $320,000, which helped
pay for improvements to the city’s Fire Station No. 4 at I-45 and FM 1488.
Over the past six years, the township has contributed $57,054 to the city of Conroe.
However, Sharp said, Conroe has not requested approval of any projects with the money.
ANNUAL PAYMENT
Each year, the township contributes 1/16th of 1 percent
of its sales and uses tax revenue to the cities of Conroe
and Houston.
Township financial director Monique Sharp said the amounts contributed to each city are not
only determined by revenue, but also by how much of The Woodlands’ property lies within
the respective city’s extraterritorial jurisdiction.
“The payments the township makes to Conroe are based on sales tax collections only within
that portion of the Township that is within Conroe’s ETJ,” Sharp said. “Likewise, Houston’s
payments are based on sales tax collections only within that portion of the township that
is within Houston’s ETJ. The discrepancy in payments between the two entities is due to
Houston’s ETJ being much larger than Conroe’s.”
Annual payments to the city of Houston
•Initial payment: $16 million
•2008: $467,643
•2009: $936,921
•2010: $962,092
•2011: $1 million
•2012: $1.2 million
•2013: $1 million
Throughout the past seven years, The Woodlands Township has funded $21.7 million in
city of Houston projects
Over the term of the agreement, The Woodlands Township is expected to fund $45 million
in city of Houston projects. Among those:
•$20 million will go toward mobility
•$10 million will go toward improved access to the Texas Medical Center
•$15 million will go toward regional park improvements

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