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Ranch at Cypress Creek ponders annexation

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This is an editorial written by the president of the Municipal Utilities District for the Ranch at Cypress Creek in regards to a story written by the Hill Country News on Dec. 26, 2007.

By Max Moss

Dear friends and neighbors,

As some of you know by now the City of Cedar Park may vote in January to put the Ranch @ Cypress Creek on a 3-year annexation plan. While most of us share an interest in being annexed into the city, significant changes in our neighborhood are likely to occur because the MUD will be terminated.

In last week's Hill Country News some information was reported that does not accurately represent the financial savings an average home in the Ranch @ Cypress Creek would enjoy, nor tell the entire story of the potentially negative impacts we will incur as a result of the annexation.

The benefits of being annexed by the city are well-known, and they include city police and fire protection for no additional cost, the ability to vote in city elections, improved long-term road maintenance and a slightly lower tax rate.

On an apples-to-apples comparison, the average homeowner in our neighborhood will save approximately $12-14 per month after tax benefits are considered.

What is less known by most people is what we will lose in exchange for the tax-rate savings. It will have a dramatic impact on our neighborhood's appearance which would logically impact the quality of our neighborhood and the value of our homes.

The primary services that will be impacted by this annexation are: Significant reduction in our overall landscape maintenance for all of our common areas and roads, and termination of restrictive covenant enforcement for the majority of our neighborhood.

We will be communicating with our neighbors in more detail on these issues and what they mean for everyone before the next city council meeting on Jan. 24.

It is important that you understand this impact and communicate any concerns with your MUD Board and with the Cedar Park City Council as we move into a phase of negotiations on this annexation, should this vote pass.

Some of our citizens have already communicated with the city officials. Several have expressed “general” support for annexation while strongly expressing a desire that we maintain a way to keep our neighborhood at the level of quality that we currently enjoy. Other home owners have told the Council they do not care about things like covenant enforcement and landscaping/maintenance differences, and all they want is to be annexed.

Regardless of your opinion, we need to know how you feel.

The city's position is, whatever level of service Cedar Park provides to their communities now will be provided to us when annexed. While fair, in numerous ways that is significantly less service than we currently provide for ourselves. You have a significant investment in this community. Your taxes paid for the common area fence, the “year round” landscaping maintenance and irrigation at our entryways and along all the main streets, the current level of police protection that we're told has our crime rate at a low level compared to surrounding areas and covenant enforcement that keeps the quality of our neighborhood at a high level.

The city has committed to negotiating with us in good faith through this process, though they have expressed some limitations in what they are willing to do. They are good people, and we trust they will do what they say.

The MUD Board is committed to representing our neighborhood's interest in an honest, respectful and professional manner as well.

More information can be found on our web site at www.ranch-at-cc.org. Please let your voice be heard.

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