Houston Texans Chair and CEO Cal McNair, right, speaks alongside his wife and Texans Vice President of the Houston Texans Foundation, Hannah McNair, as the Houston Texans announces the development of a new, 83-acre headquarters and practice facility space named the ‘Toro District’ in the Bridgeland master-planned community in Northwest Harris County in Cypress, Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026. The project will included a 22-acre headquarters and training complex with plans to open the facility in 2029.
Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle
A recent court ruling invalidating an amendment to the Texas Constitution could complicate Harris County’s plan for financing the Toro District and send ripples through a network of little-known taxing districts the county formed prior to the ruling.
The amendment, which voters approved as Proposition 2 in 2021, was framed as giving county reinvestment zones the ability to issue debt. But some counties responded by creating these zones for the first time. Harris County has since created four and is negotiating with the Houston Texans and Howard Hughes to form a fifth to fund infrastructure for a new practice field and surrounding development in northwest Harris County.
But state District Judge Jan Soifer’s July 10 ruling in a lawsuit brought by a group of conservative organizations may frustrate those plans.
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Soifer agreed with the plaintiffs’ allegation that the ballot language used to describe the amendment failed to inform voters how the zones’ investments would be paid for – namely, by issuing bonds.
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“Therefore,” Soifer wrote, “the ballot language of Proposition 2 … omitted a chief feature of the amendment and misled the voters.”
The lawsuit was brought against the Texas Secretary of State’s Office by Texas Uniting for Reform and Freedom, Grassroots America — We the People PAC and the True Texas Project. The organizations warned the language was misleading in a letter one of their lawyers sent state officials in August 2021, before the issue appeared on the ballot.
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Attorney Garrett McMillan pointed to a “nearly identical” proposal voters rejected in 2011. That proposal, he wrote, made clear that the reinvestment zones would fund projects through property taxes, unlike the 2021 measure.
McMillan warned that his clients intended to sue should the proposition be put before voters unchanged.
“Our clients would prefer that Texas voters be informed of what they are voting on rather than misled and would like the wording of the proposition to be changed to reflect (its) effect,” McMillan wrote.
Impact on Harris County
While Proposition 2 primarily empowered counties to issue debt against the tax revenue collected through reinvestment zones, some counties took it as a signal that they could begin creating zones, as cities had for decades before them.
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Commissioners Court approved the first county-run reinvestment zone in December 2022 covering the Aldine area. Commissioners have voted to create three more since then, with the commissioner whose precinct the zone is in typically appointing a majority of the board members.
A fifth proposed zone was announced by Commissioners Lesley Briones and Tom Ramsey in February. Designed to support the partnership between the Texans, Howard Hughes and Harris County, the zone is intended to fund as much as $150 million in costs associated with constructing a parking garage for the Toro District.
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It’s unclear whether that deal can continue in its original form or if Commissioners Court will have to return to the negotiating table. A spokesperson for Briones directed a request for comment to County Attorney Abbie Kamin, who said she could not comment on ongoing negotiations.
“Counties in our state continue to have a range of financing options to promote community development, economic growth, job creation and neighborhood improvements in partnership with public and private organizations,” Kamin said.
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In a reinvestment zone, part of the property taxes generated each year are set aside to be spent only within the zone, rather than flowing into the county budget to be spent anywhere in the region.
The case is still eligible for appeal, and Gov. Greg Abbott, whose office did not respond to a request for comment, has yet to formally overturn the results of the 2021 election in response to the court ruling.