Ellis County delays final vote on Stonewood North CID, seeks higher petition standards and clearer cost breakdowns

Ellis County commissioners on Dec. 16 declined to approve the Stonewood North Estates community improvement district (CID) petition and instead directed staff to convene a work session to set minimum standards for future CIDs.

The proposal would finance roughly two miles of internal subdivision roads and a short connecting segment via a special assessment bond. County administrator Darren Myers outlined a draft petition and said the financing approach uses upfront bonding so the homeowners’ assessments can be collected over a multi‑year schedule while bond proceeds pay initial costs.

Homeowners and financial advisers pressed for clarity on several points. Larry Kliman, Ransom Financial, said his current estimate assumes an interest rate of about 3.75% over 10 years but cautioned the final rate will depend on market bids. Ty Wilson, a Stonewood North resident coordinating the petition, asked whether the $80 per month example in the petition included fees and interest; Dominic Eck of Gilmore & Bell, bond counsel on the phone, confirmed the $80 amount in the submitted petition does include estimated interest and fees.

Legal questions centered on who must sign a petition. Eck said the statute sets a 55% minimum threshold by land area and assessed value, but the county may adopt a local policy requiring a higher approval level: “the statutory construct sets the minimum requirements... but you are able to have a policy that you won't accept the petition if it doesn't meet a higher threshold that you all decide,” he said. Eck also confirmed that signatures must be from the recorded title owners and that trustees named in trust documents act on the trust’s behalf.

Commissioners raised additional concerns about project scope and taxpayer impacts. Commissioner Michael Burgess and others asked that the county avoid front‑loading county reserves to pay for private subdivision work, and suggested petition documents should clearly show a breakdown of hard construction costs, financing costs and bond issuance fees. Darren Myers said staff can add an addendum showing the financing breakdown to the petition.

Rather than advance the petition, the commission agreed to discuss a formal set of minimum CID standards at a Jan. 27 work session so that future petitions come forward under a consistent county approach. Commissioners emphasized the step is intended to give homeowners time to review any changes and to set expectations for future developments.

The petitioners may revise and resubmit documents; Eck noted change petitions may be filed but that bringing materially different terms back to the commission risks losing the county’s support if the commission does not approve the changes. The commission made no binding decision on financing or assessments at the Dec. 16 meeting; a public work session on CID policy is scheduled for January.