Help Us Develop a
better corpus christi
CORPUS CHRISTI PROUD
We’re Proud of Our City and The People Who Make Corpus Christi Such A Unique Place.
Some of us are life-long residents and wouldn’t dream of moving anywhere else, while some sought out Corpus Christi to be their new home. No matter how you got to Corpus Christi you know our city is special.
Special places plan their growth with extensive research, input and collaboration. Developing Our Future: Corpus Christi is a project about infrastructure – the backbone of our city. We’re talking about new water, wastewater, storm water and roadway infrastructure that connects to existing neighborhoods and developments. It’s a project to ensure that all new critical infrastructure is well connected to the built environment, and that the cost of building new infrastructure to serve new developments is allocated fairly between the City and the Developer.
Funding
Over the past 40 years, the City of Corpus Christi has not led in the funding of infrastructure expansion including water and wastewater utilities. The City’s approach has been more reactive rather than proactively planned.
So how is infrastructure currently funded in Corpus Christi? Currently, water and wastewater infrastructure expansions are primarily funded by the Trust Fund. Established in 1982, the Trust Fund ordinances were created to fund new water and wastewater utilities. The Trust Fund received its funding from lot and acreage fees, surcharge fees and pro-rata fees paid by anyone that plats a piece of property or requests residential meters and taps. If additional infrastructure is needed to support new developments, the City usually provides the necessary funding. Additional infrastructure can include roadway expansion, storm water improvements, and expansion of treatments facilities.
From 1982 to 2022, the Trust Funds have paid out approximately $39 million dollars for water and wastewater expansion for new developments throughout our City. In most cities, across the U.S., those wishing to develop land pay at least a portion of the cost to connect the City’s current infrastructure (water, wastewater, storm water and roads) to new neighborhoods and businesses they build.
If the Trust Fund only pays for water and wastewater expansion, where does the funding for the additional infrastructure come from? The City currently funds this infrastructure with Capital Improvement or Bond Projects. The City is currently studying alternative methods for funding new infrastructure to include water, wastewater, storm water and roadways. The City will continue to update this information as we move along in the process.
Planning
Growth in Corpus Christ has not occurred in a well-planned manner over the years. Developers have purchased land where there was market demand for new home buyers and new commercial developments.
Water and wastewater infrastructure is usually brought to new developments with funding available in the Trust Funds. However, the Trust Funds do not cover the cost of expanding existing roadway and storm water infrastructure needed to handle increased volume of the new developments. Therefore, the City expands the roadways and extends the storm water infrastructure to support new developments, while older areas within the City that are in need of repair or maintenance do not receive the funding needed. This approach to growth and development prevents the City from reaching its fullest potential.
Project Benefits to Residents
Cost Shifting
As it stands now, all current City residents pay for a portion of new storm water and roadway infrastructure, that supports new developments through their property taxes. This project aims to shift these costs to the developers that build the new developments.
More Balanced
This project also aims to ensure a more balanced approach to the City’s growth and development. The City will achieve this by developing comprehensive utility master plans, which will guide developers where to build so there’s a more intentional and efficient approach to our City’s growth.
More Connected City
The master plans will also ensure that new neighborhoods and developments are better connected throughout the City.
A PROJECT WITH PURPOSE
What Is The Anticipated Outcome?
Developing Our Future: Corpus Christi will ensure we have connected neighborhoods and developments and ensure we have an efficient way to fund the extension of our existing infrastructure to meet newly developed areas.
Developing utility master plans for water, wastewater, storm water, and roadways is the first part of this project. These plans will help guide developers where new neighborhoods and developments should be built assuring our growth, as a City, is planned and cost effective.
The second part of this project is to study and/or examine alternatives for funding new growth-related infrastructure. Instead of utilizing the Trust Funds, which is only limited to water and wastewater expansion, the City will be studying a possible transition to impact fees. The impact fees calculated will represent the developments’ impact on the City’s network of services including water, wastewater, storm water and roadways. This will ensure that new development pays its fair share of the costs of extending new infrastructure.
