Council keeps PID assessment rates steady, approves Highland Oaks district to fund water infrastructure

The Lubbock City Council on Aug. 26 approved assessment rates for multiple public improvement districts (PIDs) with no changes to the rates and created a new Highland Oaks PID to fund water infrastructure for a fully developed neighborhood recently annexed into the city.

Brianna Brown, the city’s business development director, told the council staff recommended no changes to this year’s assessment rates; many assessments are tied to property value, so a homeowner’s bill can change only if the property valuation changes. The council unanimously approved consolidated public hearings and adopted the rates for Bell Farms, Quincy Park, Northwest Passage, Upland Crossing (1–3), North Overton, Northpointe, Willow Bend Villas and Cypress Ranch.

On Highland Oaks, Brown summarized the district-creation process. The city had begun the PID process in September 2024 but re-noticed in August to meet state law timing requirements. Brown said the water-infrastructure capital cost estimate is about $7.1 million and the total project — including issuance costs, interest and management fees for bonding — is approximately $8.5 million. Brown said each property owner faces an assessed cost of about $33,700 and that homeowners may pay the assessment off directly or participate in a 20-year bond. Brown said the city expects to levy the assessment by October and to issue bonds for the project in the city’s normal issuance cycle in February.

A Highland Oaks homeowner, Tim Goebel, addressed the council in favor of the PID, saying the district is the mechanism to fund the project and thanked staff for their work on the schedule. The council voted unanimously to create the Highland Oaks PID and then unanimously approved a resolution establishing it.

Brown also apologized publicly for a notice error that delayed the Valencia PID hearing; staff said that public hearing will be scheduled at the council’s first September meeting.