Frequently Asked Questions

A Municipal Utility District (MUD) is a local governmental entity organized for the purpose of providing safe drinking water and sanitary sewer service to the areas within its boundaries. Additionally, a MUD can exercise other typical governmental powers, including, but not limited to, drainage relief within its boundaries, the levy and collection of ad valorem taxes, issuing bonds with voter authorization, charge for authorized services, adopt and enforce rules and regulations to accomplish the purposes for which the MUD was created, develop and maintain certain public improvements such as parks and jogging trails, provide solid waste management services, and provide police protection services. However, not all MUDs provide all of these services. While the powers of a MUD may seem very broad, MUDs are one of the most highly regulated and controlled governmental entities in the State of Texas. The powers of a MUD are limited to those expressly provided for in the Texas Water Code and the Texas Constitution and there is significant oversight provided by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ).

Appraisals from the Tax Assessor/Collector can be found on their website.

https://www.utilitytaxservice.com/AccountSrch

A general depiction of the allocation of MUD tax revenue can be found on the flyer distributed to residents and found following the View Infographic button below.

For the MUD’s General Fund, the budget shows the more specific breakdown of the revenue and expenses for the MUD fiscal year. The most recently approved MUD budget can be found on the Resources Page.

For the MUD’s Debt Service Fund, the MUD’s Financial Advisor determines the total amount of the debt service payment the MUD will need to pay for the year. The MUD will then determine the amount of the debt service tax rate that will need to be assessed to satisfy that year’s debt service payment.

The MUD Board of Directors voted to include a $10,000 exemption for property owners who are disabled or over 65 that went into effect for the 2020 tax year.

Go to the Helpful Links Page and click on the service providers.

Billing questions can be answered by the City of Celina’s Utility Billing Office. You may call their customer service desk at 972-382-3345.

You are welcome to attend the monthly meetings of the Board of Directors. All meetings are open to the public according to Texas law. These meetings are normally held on the 4th Monday of the month at 6 PM at either the Light Farms Community Center or Celina Police Headquarters.

The Texas Open Meetings Act honors the principle that government at all levels in this state should operate in a way that is open and accessible to the people to view deliberations of elected officials. Texas law allows closed meetings in certain limited circumstances.

Qualified registered voters are eligible to vote in US, Texas, Collin County, and the independent school district elections. Additionally, all residents who are qualified registered voters can also vote in Collin County MUD #1 elections. More information can be found on the Collin County Elections page.

The MUD is a governmental entity that is required to adhere to the bidding process detailed in Section 49 of the Texas Water Code. The estimated contract amount will determine the exact steps the MUD must take, but in general the MUD will either solicit bids or publicly bid the project. Upon receipt of bids, the MUD will determine the bid that is most advantageous to the MUD and result in the best and most economical completion of the project. Usually, that means the MUD will accept the lowest bid, but in some cases past performance and quality are taken into consideration.

The MUD’s process for developing the budget for the upcoming fiscal year is intensive, but to simplify it:

  • Attention is paid to administrative expenses in the previous year to project administrative expenses to the coming year
  • For operational expenses, the MUD looks at the previous year’s costs but also looks at what projects are anticipated in the coming year: What replacement landscaping will be needed (dead trees, bushes, etc)? What condition are the drainage ponds in? What are the potential costs for the irrigation system and repair of roads? What are the costs for public safety going to be? What do the MUD’s reserves look like and what projects are anticipated in a 5-year plan?
The MUD is in Celina’s extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ). Under the Development Agreement with Celina, Celina has the right, but not the obligation, to annex the MUD any time after December 31, 2027. Since annexation would require Celina to assume all of the MUD’s debt, Celina would analyze that debt versus the benefit of the tax revenue Celina would receive from the MUD residents. Upon annexation, the MUD would no longer operate as a full purpose district. However, there are provisions in the Development Agreement that contemplate the MUD converting to a limited district, which would exist solely for the upkeep of the public parks and landscaping. The limited district would have a small tax and would allow Light Farms to ensure the upkeep of Light Farms parks without having to rely on the City.
The MUD will continue to make the annual debt payments to reduce the debt. Additionally, if there are opportunities to refinance the debt at a lower interest rate, the MUD will do that.

Currently, the MUD has $168,515,000 in outstanding principal debt ($54,165,000 from utility bonds and $114,350,000 from road bonds)*

*The amounts reflected above do not include interest 

Please refer to the District’s Contact Us page if you require further assistance. District representatives will respond shortly.

To set up new water service with Collin County MUD 1, fill out the Customer Service Application on the City of Celina website.