Texas law gives each substantial city an "extraterrestrial jurisdiction" or ETJ, which is an unconstitutional convenience for the billionaires who own the State government, to play games with city boundaries for their own personal gain.
Houston has a dictatorial-mayor form of government. If you are on City Council, your area's "capital improvements" are hostage to the mayor's pleasure (this is how Annise Parker got her nasty GLBT bill through Council -- just as predecessor Kathryn Whitmire got a similar bill through for her Montrose Catamite power-bloc, only to get the **** slapped out of her when a councilman with a pair of stones stood up to her and demanded a vote of the public, the whole public, and nothing but the public). Kathy lost that referendum 5:1, which is a measure of her gall.
The people who were annexed by decree in Kingwood suffered a lugubrious fall in police protection; formerly they'd been policed by the county sheriff and their County Constable's deputies, but after the annexation police response times blew up, as the City tried to extend their beat cops to cover a large area 10-15 miles up the road.
More jokes on you department: The local black Council member b*tched about having a bunch of white people dumped in his district and demanded they be "districted out". For the benefit of FReepers not living in the old Confederate States, it must be explained that this is not a laughing matter: The Federal Department of Just Us frowns on white voters being added to black sinecure political seats (it's called "diluting minority participation", and it basically means **** You White M************s.) So, posthaste, maps were drawn and redrawn, and His Black Omnipotence was appeased, and the Tax Play Victims in Kingwood were assigned to a City Council District 20 miles away in one of the most stupid-looking gerrymanders in American history.
Everything you said I already know about. I tried to build a house outside Waco city limits. There was no city water or sewage so the homeowner was going to put in a well and septic system. But since it was in the Waco ETJ we had to get building permits. We couldn’t build because city sewage is not allowed. The only way the man could build a house was wait for the city to run the water lines or pay for them himself. That was in 1986 and he’s probably still waiting.
So anyone in Texas who wants to buy some land to build on first make sure there’s MUD water. If not, then find out how far the nearest city and water sewer lines are because you’re probably going to have to pay to get them installed. If it’s more than you want to pay, don’t buy the land.
Don’t even get me started on lesbo Parker.
By the way, the people of Kingwood saw a drop in value of their property but they got a new tax.