Incorporation would protect the wealthy master-planned community from annexation by Houston or Conroe. But it could also drive up residents’ property tax bills.

This week, The Woodlands will take another step towards a vote on whether to incorporate as a city with its own municipal government. The master-planned community, located 30 miles north of downtown Houston, is preparing to publish the findings of a study for residents on the pros and cons of incorporation.

Currently, most of The Woodlands' tax revenues go to Montgomery County. Those revenues make the wealthy community an attractive target for annexation by the City of Houston or the City of Conroe.

Rice University political scientist Mark Jones said that voting to make The Woodlands a city would protect it from annexation and let it hold onto more of its tax receipts. "The cost to this," Jones said, "is generally that by incorporating, residents will likely pay more in property taxes than they're presently paying. They'll get more services, and they'll have more control over the quality and the nature of their services, but they are going to pay more."

At present, The Woodlands is governed as a township. It has regional participation agreements with Houston and Conroe that prohibit the two cities from annexing the township until 2057. Last year, the Texas Legislature passed a law requiring cities get consent from residents before annexing territory. Jones said that the participation agreement and the law make it more difficult to annex The Woodlands, but not impossible.

Matrix Consulting Group, which conducted the study, is set to publish the results online by Friday.

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