At a June 27 special voting session, the Travis County Commissioners Court voted to direct county staff to confer with petitioners on the process for complying with the PID Act, the county’s PID policy, and related matters for the Lagos Austin development.

The order follows a public presentation by the Lagos Austin development team and a private legal briefing held in executive session under Texas Government Code §551.071. Commissioners said they needed clearer delineation of which community benefits would come from the developer, the city of Manor and the county, and they raised questions about assessment notice to homebuyers and the financing timeline.

Developers told the court the Lagos site covers about 500 acres, and the planned buildout includes roughly 1,000 single-family lots, a little over 1,000 multifamily units and about 72,000 square feet of commercial space. The team said it would dedicate a 25-acre parcel to the county for on-site affordable housing and a community center and planned more parks and trails than required by code.

"There's no requirement to do affordable housing in the county. The PID is one of the very few tools that lets you ask for affordable housing," said Steve Metcalf, representing the development team. Metcalf described on-site affordable housing and a community center as primary community benefits.

Rick Rosenberg, handling finances for the project, told the court the estimated public-infrastructure budget is about $93,000,000, with a projected PID gross amount of roughly $69,000,000 and a net of about $57,000,000. He said the development would deliver about $2,700,000 annually in county taxes at full buildout and about $7,300,000 for Manor Independent School District.

Commissioners pressed developers on assessment size, notice to homebuyers and funding sources. Rosenberg estimated that for an average $350,000 home a homeowner’s annual PID assessment payment would be about $2,800; for a $450,000 home the estimated assessment would be about $3,600. He also said the developer had given preliminary notices to potential homebuyers and that roughly 20 homes were under contract.

Commissioner Anne Howard repeatedly requested a clearer, itemized mapping of which benefits (for example, funding for the community center, school access improvements, and sidewalks) would come from the developer, the city or the county. "The methodology and how we connect the dots is going to be really important to me," Howard said, asking staff to provide explicit source-by-source detail.

County and developer representatives also discussed timing: the project team said they hoped to have assessments levied before as many home closings as possible and that bond issuance was targeted later this year; staff told the court legal questions about assessments and notice would be discussed in executive session.

After returning from executive session, Commissioner Jeff Trevillion moved to "direct county staff to confer with the petitioners on the process for complying with the PID Act, our current PID policy, and other related matters." The motion passed unanimously with Judge Andy Brown absent.

The court did not adopt final PID documents at the meeting. Commissioners instructed county staff and counsel to return with clarifying details on assessment mechanics, the precise composition and funding of community benefits (including the 25-acre dedication), and any intergovernmental agreements needed to secure funding for the proposed community center.

County staff and the petitioners will continue negotiations and return to the court with recommended next steps and the legal analyses requested by commissioners.