Ellis County hears primer on RHIDs as developer seeks district for 13-house subdivision east of NCK Tech

An attorney from Gilmore & Bell, serving as Ellis County special counsel, told the Board of County Commissioners that a Reinvestment Housing Incentive District, or RHID, is a tax‑increment financing tool counties and cities can use to help pay eligible project costs for housing developments.

The attorney said RHIDs “are tax increment financing” in which a base valuation is frozen on the district’s establishment, taxes on that base continue to be distributed pro rata to taxing jurisdictions, and “anything above that base is segregated and put into a special bucket that can be utilized to pay for eligible project costs.” Eligible costs typically include horizontal infrastructure and land acquisition; the statutory maximum term is 25 years and up to 100% of eligible costs may be reimbursed under the statute, though local governing bodies can set shorter terms or narrower reimbursement rules.

Why it matters: commissioners and a local developer discussed using the tool to lower per‑lot infrastructure costs so homes sell at lower price points without increasing a typical homeowner’s ad valorem tax bill. The county would control segregated RHID revenues and access by developers would be established in a development agreement that obligates developers to construct specified improvements before reimbursement.

During the meeting,…