Rep’s firm works for MUD he supported
Montgomery County lawmaker Bell says special districts essential for development
State Rep. Cecil Bell is known around the Texas Capitol for, among other things, wearing a cowboy hat.
In Montgomery County business circles, the Republican from Magnolia is known for wearing multiple hats. A sixth-generation Texan, Bell has several cattle ranches. He’s a developer. He also owns construction companies.
During the 2015 legislative session, Bell voted for a bill to expand the powers of the Pine Forest Municipal Utility District in Harris County, which is authorized by state law to sell tax-exempt bonds to finance infrastructure and levy property taxes to pay off those bonds. Inactive for several years and described at a legislative hearing as “struggling,” the MUD said it needed road-building powers to compete with neighboring water districts.
Afew months ago, Bell landed a contract with the MUD to repair a detention pond and do other maintenance work, according to state records. Bell said he violated no ethics statute by getting the contract, which he thought totaled $30,000 and involved an emergency repair of a sewer pipe. Contracts top $2.4 million
Bell is a major supporter of MUDs. Of the 22 bills he has filed that have become law, 12 created water districts or gave them additional duties.
This year, his companies, B-5 Construction Company, Inc. and Storm Maintenance & Monitoring, disclosed having 12 contracts with 10 water districts, primarily for construction involving water, sewer and drainage facilities at subdivisions and sewage treatment plant improvements. Six of the districts are in Harris County, three are in Montgomery County, and one is in Fort Bend County. All were created before Bell’s first term in the House began in 2013.
The disclosures on so-called Form 1295s with the State Ethics Commission were required under a new law that took effect Jan. 1. It directs all contractors doing business with government entities — including MUDs and other special purpose districts — to disclose contracts that required approval by a governing body or were worth more than $1 million.
State law does not require vendors to disclose the contract amounts. Six of the 10 water districts doing business with Bell’s firms responded to the Houston Chronicle’s inquiries on contract amounts, totaling $2.4 million. As required by state law, all of the contracts were competitively bid. ‘Burden of taxation’ limited
Bell and other legislators, who are paid $7,200 a year plus $26,600 for daily expenses during the regular session every other year, often stress that their need for outside income is far greater than states where lawmakers are full-time and paid much more.
“We’re a citizen legislature. The companies that I own that are construction in nature work for a wide variety of private and public entities, including municipalities, MUD districts, and private corporations,” he said in a recent interview.
Bell was first elected to the House in 2012, representing Waller County and part of Montgomery County. There are 85 water districts, including MUDS and management districts, in Montgomery County with the power to issue a maximum of $9.6 billion in debt.
Tim Weems, a Montgomery County developer who worked in 2013 with Bell to create MUD 136 for his residential project, declined to comment about Bell working for a MUD he helped get additional powers in the Legislature, saying he objected to the Chronicle’s coverage of the districts.
In high-growth areas, MUDs and other water districts are essential to development, Bell said.
“It’s an economic way to address the need for infrastructure expansion in Texas that doesn’t create a burden of taxation for all citizens,” he said.