Another incorporation effort gearing up in Kingsland
KINGSLAND — Another move is under way to have Kingsland — one of the largest settlements in the Highland Lakes — incorporate as a city.
Before that happens, residents will have to go the polls to vote.
Llano County commissioners earlier this week received a petition with 109 signatures collected by Say Yes! to Kingsland. The group wants to get the issue placed on the Nov. 8 ballot.
Because a portion of Kingsland is also in Burnet County, any incorporation vote also would have to be included on that ballot, too, officials said.
"We have collected 109 signatures," said Steve Fraser, chairman of Say Yes! to Kingsland.
The group believes that if Kingsland becomes a city, it will improve the quality of life in the community. Past initiatives to officially make Kingsland a city have failed.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Kingsland has more than 6,000 residents. The postal service delivers to more than 3,500 mailboxes.
At the moment, the township is maintained by Burnet and Llano counties. It has no city government, no police force, no public works department, no planning/zoning commission or other municipal services.
If Kingsland becomes incorporated, most of what the counties provide will be consolidated into services administered by city officials.
"The primary goal is to make Kingsland clean, safe and prosperous for all who live, work and play here," Fraser said.
Llano County Elections Office rules say there must be at least 50 valid signatures from registered voters in the proposed boundaries for the city before an election is held.
Four years ago, the Kingsland/Lake LBJ Chamber of Commerce sponsored several casual "incorporation education" discussions at the Kingsland Community Park.
The meetings ended in May 2008.
"I was not involved with that effort, so I can’t speak to what was done or why (incorporation) was not carried forward," Fraser said earlier this week. "But concerning our effort, I do believe the climate has changed, and it appears a large number of people want incorporation for Kingsland."
The chamber has no position on the current incorporation effort, according to Chamber Manager Letha Causey.
"We are neutral," Causey said.
Other efforts to incorporate Kingsland have fizzled.
Kingsland voters went thumbs down during a referendum on incorporation in 1974. An attempt by several residents to establish incorporation also sputtered eight years ago.
Arguments in the past against incorporation included complaints that taxes would rise to pay for additional services.
The last day to order a fall election is Sept. 7, officials said.
If Llano County officials order an incorporation election this fall, Burnet County residents in voting precincts 8 and 9 could participate in the election, according to Barbara Agnew, the county elections administrator.
Both precincts are along the western edge of the county, south of Texas 29 near Inks Lake and Lake LBJ.
"My office will not verify (petition) signatures — that is Llano County’s responsibility," Agnew said. "If everything is in order with the petition, and Llano County orders the incorporation election, Burnet County election officials will be provided with the ballot language and a map of the territory for the election."