What is a Municipal Utility District?

What can it do and what can't it do!

A Municipal Utility District (MUD), like a school district, is a governmental entity created under Texas State law, specifically, Chapter 54 of the Texas Water Code. As a public entity, it can exercise certain governmental powers, including the levy and collection of property taxes, charging for authorized services, the issuance of bonds for water and sewer facilities, and the adoption and enforcement of rules and regulations as appropriate to accomplish the purposes for which the district was created.

A M.U.D.'s primary purpose is to provide water and sewer services within its boundaries, in addition, solid waste collection and providing parks and recreation were later added. Also, the enforcement of restrictive covenants or deed restrictions in an effort to protect the assessed valuation of the properties in the district was added in 1995 in large part through the legislative lobbying of the late Anderson Mill Director David Harper. Districts can also enter into contracts or "interlocal agreements," which are contracts with another local government. Our Agreement with the City of Austin to postpone annexation and improve the terms of annexation is an example. This Partnership Agreement with Austin was negotiated by Directors David Harper and Bill Burke.

Some residents mistakenly think that MUD's are just like cities or counties and that their powers are much farther reaching than Texas law actually permits. For example, in Anderson Mill M.U.D., street repair and traffic control is a power limited to Williamson County. While Anderson Mill cannot perform these functions, the Board of Directors can enter into contracts to ensure that the District's facilities are better protected which, in turn, may better protect its residents. The Board of Directors many years ago made an interlocal agreement with the Williamson County Sheriff's Department to allow the Sheriffs to use the old MUD Office building at the corner of Millwright Parkway and Timbercrest Trail as a substation within Anderson Mill. This allowed the Sheriff deputies to increase their patrolling of our neighborhood and of the District's parks and facilities. They no longer had to waste the time to drive back to Georgetown to do paperwork or may phone calls relating to cases. This type of agreement was later copied by other MUDs in Williamson County.

Another case of interlocal cooperation is when the Anderson Mill Board of Directors determined that it would be advantageous to have better response by Emergency Medical Services for the Anderson Mill employees, especially those at our Wastewater Treatment plant. The MUD, lead by the late President David Harper, and John Kiracofe (then Assistant Fire Chief and now Fire Chief and MUD Board President) entered into an agreement with Williamson  County to provide the County with free space for an Emergency Medical Services station in Anderson Mill at the wastewater treatment plant. This greatly improved the protection of the District employees and had a much needed side benefit of reducing ambulance response time for all Anderson Mill residents to a few minutes instead of 20-30 minutes. This was the first such agreement in Texas.

Street maintenance is, as mentioned above, a responsibility of Williamson County. The medians along Lake Creek Parkway are part of that responsibility. However, Williamson County Road and Bridge Department is not able to care for the landscaping along the medians since their closest location is in Liberty Hill and they do not really have equipment to handle fine landscape care. As a result, the Anderson Mill MUD Parks Department, overseen by Director Cindy Ottenbacher, entered into an interlocal agreement having the MUD handle the care of the Lake Creek Parkway right of way. This was a convenient way for the County to handle their responsibility, and it ensured the residents of Anderson Mill that the "main street" of our neighborhood would be well maintained. Director Fred Grampp coordinates with staff and the county to make sure street and sidewalk problems are addressed by the county. Similarly, Directors Ottenbacher and Kiracofe oversee an agreement with the County Sheriff's Department to provide off-duty deputies to work for the MUD as additional security for our parks and facilities using County Sheriff vehicles.

The Board of Directors of Anderson Mill M.U.D. have used the limited powers, allowed by State law, and through close, mutual cooperation with the Williamson County Commissioners Court, the Sheriff Department,  and the City of Austin have greatly improved the safety of the residents of Anderson Mill.