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Council directs plan to transition EDC/CDC to new Municipal Development District and to form nominating committee
Summary
After voters approved creation of a Municipal Development District (MDD), council directed staff to bring an item on May 28 to create a three-member nominating committee and asked whether the new MDD should begin budgeting and overlap with the existing EDC/CDC through Sept. 30. Staff noted the MDD can assess a half-cent sales tax that will increase local sales tax from 6.25% to 6.75% inside the district.
Voters in the May election approved creation of a Municipal Development District (MDD), and the council spent the meeting mapping how to transition the town’s Economic Development Corporation (EDC) and Community Development Corporation (CDC) into the new entity.
Town staff (Drew) told the council the MDD can assess a half-cent sales tax within the district and in the town’s extraterritorial jurisdiction, which would raise the local sales tax in affected places from 6.25% to 6.75%. Staff said state law requires the EDC and CDC to remain legally active until Sept. 30, and that the MDD would not begin until Oct. 1; that creates a timing overlap staff asked the council to resolve.
To manage the transition staff presented three options: keep the EDC/CDC active until Sept. 30 while the MDD readies a first budget; have overlapping boards with the same personnel serving both entities during a handoff; or create a nominating committee to propose a slate for the new MDD. Staff also recommended a board size minimum of four members and suggested a practical maximum of seven.
Several councilors responded that a nominating committee would be a sensible path. “We’ve done it every way that we, the job wanted us to do,” Drew said, describing prior approaches such as polling, slates, and sequential appointments. Councilors debated whether five or seven members would be preferable: some said five improves efficiency and attendance, others said seven produces broader deliberation and a greater range of ideas.
Council direction: staff was asked to bring an item on the May 28 meeting to create a nominating committee with guidelines; the committee would meet quickly and present recommended appointees at the June 11 council meeting so the town can have an MDD board in place and begin budget work prior to the MDD’s official Oct. 1 start date.
Why it matters: the MDD’s taxing authority and early budget work will determine how sales-tax revenue is allocated for local projects and whether the town or successor board assumes current EDC/CDC obligations. The council emphasized continuity with current board members where appropriate and requested staff options showing how to overlap duties and budgets without violating statutory timing.
What’s next: staff will return May 28 with an item to create the nominating committee and options for board size (5 or 7) and for folding PNZ or other reappointments into the committee’s work.
