Bills filed Wednesday in the Texas Legislature will make the ability for The Woodlands to incorporate smoother if voters elect to do so in the future.There is no timeline for incorporation, however, the township board is moving forward with planning initiatives; a special meeting took place Wednesday to discuss issues related to the topic, including the proposed new legislation.“This is a foundational day,” township board Chairman Gordy Bunch said. “We’re starting the groundwork.”The Woodlands has until 2057 to incorporate before it risks being annexed by the cities of Houston and Conroe, according to regional participation agreements with both cities. Voters in the master-planned community will have the ultimate say over whether to become a city if the board of directors chooses to the place the item on a future ballot.There are two types of cities in the state of Texas: general law and home rule. The Texas Constitution only allows communities to incorporate as general law cities, which have populations of 5,000 or less. Therefore, the township legally cannot incorporate today because of its population of more than 110,000 residents.State Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, and state Rep. Mark Keough, R-The Woodlands, filed Senate Bills 1014 and 1015 and House Bills 2110 and 2183, respectively, this week to make a future transition to becoming a general law city legal.“Legislation has been introduced to resolve these issues and provide the township with the ability to move from the current form of governance and incorporate as a general law city,” said Don Norrell, township general manager and president.Aside from allowing The Woodlands to incorporate as a general law city, the legislation requires a proposed initial property tax rate at incorporation be included in any ballot language. The proposed legislation also states that if a majority of The Woodlands voters do choose to incorporate, a subsequent election would need to be held to elect a mayor and five council members, or a mayor and two city commissioners. The township’s board of directors has seven members today.Additionally, the assets, liabilities and obligations of the township would be transferred to the new city approved through an election, according to the legislation.The township will not know the outcome of the legislation until the end of the session in late May or early June, but the board of directors has not set any timeline regarding a future incorporation election.“We need to reset the button in The Woodlands with our residents that there isn’t this imminent threat that [incorporation] is going to happen overnight,” Bunch said. “This is a multiyear planning process. We’re going to have our public invited at every step.”In addition to the legislation, the board of directors on Wednesday also discussed potential responsibilities of a city versus the township, along with the types of analysis and studies needed to move forward in the planning process.“We’re going to find, as we go through this process, that changing conditions will cause us to change our views on some of these issues,” township Director Bruce Rieser said. “We need to work diligently to get us where we need to go.”For more details on the incorporation planning process, see the March 11 edition of Community Impact Newspaper.