Growth deals in Leander: 380 deals, PIDs, MUDs and the TIRZ

In short

Growing cities need roads, water lines and sewers before new homes pay taxes. Leander uses four tools to get them built. MUDs are special districts that borrow and tax the homes inside them. Eight MUDs tied to Leander owed about $243 million in 2025.¹ PIDs charge extra fees to owners in three neighborhoods.² The TIRZ sets aside part of the growth in property taxes in one zone to repay builders and the city.² 380 deals give back fees or taxes to a business or builder that meets set goals.²

Layer 1: the four tools

Tool	What it is	Who pays	Leander example
MUD (municipal utility district)	A separate local government that builds water, sewer and drainage, then repays its bonds with its own tax	Homeowners inside the MUD	Leander MUD 1, 2 and 3; Leander TODD MUD 11
PID (public improvement district)	An area where owners pay an extra yearly fee for local improvements	Owners inside the PID	Oak Creek, Deerbrooke, Crystal Springs2
TIRZ (tax increment zone)	A zone where new tax growth goes into a fund for local projects	Part of the city and county tax growth in the zone	TIRZ #1, set up in 20062
380 deal	A city deal that pays back fees or taxes if a builder meets goals	City taxpayers (as money not collected)	A medical complex deal and several builder rebate deals2

Layer 2: what it costs and promises

MUD debt (fiscal 2025, principal owed):¹

District	Owed
Leander MUD 1	$22.5M
Leander MUD 2	$24.9M
Leander MUD 3	$4.6M
Leander TODD MUD 1	$33.5M
Travis County MUD 19	$28.7M
Travis County MUD 20	$38.0M
Travis County MUD 21	$61.3M
West Williamson County MUD 2	$29.4M
Total (our math)	$242.9M

The Travis County MUDs serve the Travisso area. West Williamson County MUD 2 serves the Lively tract. The city’s audit links both to city deals.² This MUD debt is not city debt. It is paid by the homes in each district, on top of city, county and school taxes.

TIRZ #1 promises (from the city’s 2025 audit):²

• The city and Williamson County each put 50% of the tax growth in the zone into the TIRZ fund.
• Northline: the city sold $14.4 million in certificates of obligation in 2018 for roads and drainage there. The TIRZ repays the city’s debt costs. The TIRZ paid the city $4.3 million in fiscal 2025. A separate builder deal can repay up to $27.25 million, raised from $12.5 million in 2021. It is paid only after the city’s share.
• San Gabriel Parkway: the TIRZ repaid the county $4.7 million. The last payment was in fiscal 2024.
• Smaller builder deals include Oak Creek (up to $4.19 million) and the Triangle (up to $468,150).

Builder rebate deals:²

• Travisso: the city rebates 60% of water impact fees, 100% of wastewater impact fees, and part of city property tax (a 23.71-cent slice per $100 of value) for tax years 2014–2039. So far: $735,650 in fee rebates and $3.58 million in tax rebates.
• Crescent/Bryson (Leander TODD MUD 1): rebates of fees and tax growth. The MUD’s building costs were estimated at $101 million. The city says it has met its water and wastewater duties.
• Medical complex (a 380 deal from 2016): fee waivers and tax rebates tied to building an emergency room, offices and a hospital. The city has paid $43,740. Combined TIRZ and 380 payments are capped at about $1.92 million.

Money on hand (Sept. 30, 2025): $1.75 million held for TIRZ #1 projects and $3.48 million for PIDs.²

TIRZ #1 in the state registry (2025 report):³

• The zone covers about 2,587 acres. It began in 2006 and ends at the end of 2031.
• Its base value was about $27.1 million. In 2025 the value above that base was about $2.09 billion. Only tax on that growth goes to the zone.
• In 2025 it took in about $6.85 million in tax growth and spent about $5.53 million on public projects. It reported no bond debt of its own.
• It reported about $1.77 million on hand. The audit’s $1.75 million figure above is from a different date and definition, so the two differ slightly.

MUD tax rates (tax year 2025, per $100 of value):⁴

District	Rate
Leander MUD 1	$1.00
Leander MUD 2	$1.00
Leander MUD 3	$1.00
Leander TODD MUD 1	$0.35
West Williamson County MUD 2	$0.682
Travis County MUD 19	$0.415
Travis County MUD 20	$0.415
Travis County MUD 21	$0.3755

For 2026, Travis County MUD 19 and 20 each adopted $0.44. MUD 21’s 2026 rate was not posted yet when we checked.⁵

What a MUD adds to a bill (example, not a real home):⁶

Take a $442,944 home with a homestead exemption, inside Leander and Leander ISD, for tax year 2025. That is the county appraisal district’s typical home value in Leander ISD, the same one used on our other tax pages.⁷

• Without a MUD, city, county, county road, school and college taxes come to about $7,323 a year.
• In a MUD with a $1.00 rate, add about $4,429, for about $11,752. That is about 60% more.
• At the TODD MUD’s $0.35 rate, add about $1,550. At West Williamson County MUD 2’s rate, add about $3,021.
• The county’s 2025 rate list shows no homestead or over-65 exemption for these five MUDs, so the MUD tax here is figured on the full value. (A disabled veteran’s exemption can still apply.)⁴
• This is a rough sketch. Real bills depend on the home’s value, its exemptions (over-65, disability, veterans), and which other districts it sits in. We left out districts such as an emergency services district or a water district, which would add more. Some MUD homes are outside city limits and pay no city tax.

Questions to ask

• Where does the city post each growth deal and its yearly report?
• How does the council review whether a growth deal met its terms?

Changes to this page

• Nov. 2, 2026: Added questions to ask.
• Nov. 2, 2026: We re-checked the bill example and deal figures against their sources. We replaced unsourced supporter and critic views with sourced points, and cut a guess.

Layer 3: the law and the counterweights

The law behind each tool:⁸

• 380 deals: Texas Local Government Code ch. 380 lets a city make loans and grants of public money to promote economic growth. The council must set up a program, and the deal should include terms that protect the public, such as performance goals. The Texas Constitution (Art. III, §52-a) allows this. Without it, gifts of public money are banned.
• PIDs: Local Government Code ch. 372. Owners of more than half the taxable value must petition first. The petition also needs owners of more than half the land area, or more than half of all owners. The council holds a hearing and sets an assessment plan. Each owner’s charge must match the benefit to the land.
• MUDs: Texas Water Code ch. 49 and 54, under Texas Constitution Art. XVI, §59. The state environmental agency (TCEQ) or the Legislature creates them. A MUD inside a city or its nearby area needs the city’s consent (Water Code §54.016). Voters in the MUD approve its bonds and tax.
• TIRZ: Texas Tax Code ch. 311. The council sets a base value. Only tax on growth above the base goes to the zone. Other governments, such as the county, choose whether to join, and by how much.

Counterweights (the other side):

• Who pays. A MUD or PID charge falls on owners inside the district, not the whole city.⁸ A MUD tax can be a large share of a bill (see the example above).⁶ Rebates mean money the city does not collect for a set time.²
• Rebates are capped and tied to performance. The audit says each deal pays only if the builder does the work, and only up to its cost.²
• Buyers must be told. Texas Water Code §49.452 says a seller in a MUD must give the buyer a written notice with the MUD’s tax rate and bonds before the sale.⁸
• What we did not cover: we did not read each PID’s yearly charge per home (its assessment roll is on the city’s website, which we are not using for new material), or the TIRZ board’s own reports. We used no new city web pages for this page. State and audit data may lag the latest deals.

Numbers marked “our math” are our estimates, not official figures. The notes show the inputs and the steps.

Footnotes

1. Texas Bond Review Board, local government debt outstanding, fiscal year 2025, principal by government (data.texas.gov dataset 6d42-4z7a, read 2026-11-01). https://data.texas.gov/resource/6d42-4z7a.json ↩ ↩² ↩³

2. City of Leander Annual Financial Report FY2025, Note 1 (reporting entity) and Note 10 (commitments and contingencies); statement of net position, restricted balances. City archive item ADID=360. Public copy: https://emma.msrb.org/P11938164.pdf (MSRB EMMA). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹²

3. Texas Comptroller, Chapter 311 TIRZ registry, “City of Leander TIRZ #1”: zone record and 2025 annual report (open-data files ch311-tirz-zone-detail.csv and ch311-tirz-report-detail.csv, https://comptroller.texas.gov/economy/development/search-tools/ch311/tirz-report-simple.php, read 2026-11-01). Base $27,137,114; captured value $2,094,696,616; increment received $6,850,734; public improvements $5,531,047; fund balance $1,770,864. ↩

4. Williamson County Tax Assessor-Collector, “2025 Tax Rates and Exemptions by Jurisdictions,” https://www.wilcotx.gov/DocumentCenter/View/17584 (read 2026-11-01). MUD rates: Leander #1–#3 1.000000; Leander TODD #1 0.350000; West Williamson County #2 0.682000. ↩ ↩²

5. Travis County Tax Office, Truth-in-Taxation summary, jurisdiction rate table (Tax Code §26.16), https://www.traviscountytx.gov/tax-rates (downloaded table, read 2026-11-01). 2025 totals: MUD 19 0.41 (M&O 0.10, debt 0.31); MUD 20 0.41 (0.14, 0.27); MUD 21 0.375 (0.125, 0.25). 2026: MUD 19 0.44; MUD 20 0.44; MUD 21 blank. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

6. Our math from the same 2025 rate list: county 0.369447 (5% homestead exemption), county road 0.044329 ($3,000 exemption), city 0.417282 (1% homestead, $5,000 minimum), Leander ISD 1.086900 ($140,000 exemption), ACC 0.103400 (1% homestead, $5,000 minimum). Value less exemption, times rate, divided by 100. MUD tax on full value (no homestead exemption listed for these MUDs). Sample value only; no real property used. ↩ ↩²

7. Williamson Central Appraisal District, Annual Report 2025, median appraisal by school district (single-family homes), Leander ISD $442,944. Report. ↩

8. Texas Local Government Code ch. 372 and ch. 380; Texas Water Code ch. 49 and ch. 54 (incl. §54.016); Texas Tax Code ch. 311; Texas Constitution Art. III §52-a and Art. XVI §59. https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/ (read 2026-11-01). ↩ ↩² ↩³