On November 5, 2024, the El Milagro Management District in south Mission held an election. One person voted. That person voted for all four propositions, and those votes authorized about $167.5 million in bonds that future homeowners in the district would repay through their property taxes, as The Monitor reported that week.
That election matters to anyone pricing new construction in Mission today. In some of the city's newest communities, the number that shapes what you pay each year comes from a district tax rate, and the advertised base price doesn't show it. The Texas Real Estate Commission's Notice to Purchaser of Special Taxing or Assessment District is the state-promulgated notice Texas sales contracts require, and it shows that rate before you commit. If you're comparing new homes in Mission, that notice belongs next to the price sheet.
What the ballot actually authorized
The Hidalgo County election notice lists the four propositions. Proposition A covered $92,103,152 in bonds for water, sanitary sewer, drainage and storm sewer systems. Proposition B covered $75,362,014 in road bonds. Both allow the district to levy taxes "without limit as to rate or amount" to pay principal and interest on those bonds.
Propositions C and D authorized two operation and maintenance taxes on top of that. One is capped at $1.00 per $100 of valuation and the other at $0.25 per $100. According to the Progress Times, the debt would be repaid by anyone who buys property in the district, over a 40-year period.
In the 2025 session, State Rep. Sergio Muñoz of Mission filed House Bill 5660 to dissolve the district. At an April 22, 2025 committee hearing, he described how the vote went:
"No, a lone voter cast a ballot for all four propositions, one voter."
No one spoke against the bill at that hearing. It still never moved. Texas Legislature Online lists the bill's last action as "04/22/2025 H Left pending in committee." The district and the authority voters gave it both remain in place.
Where El Milagro stands in 2026
Killam Development, Mission's largest landowner and developer, is building El Milagro near Anzalduas Highway and Military Highway. At her July 8, 2026 State of the City address, Mayor Norie Gonzalez Garza said El Milagro had officially recorded 475 lots for residential, commercial and community uses, with "more announcements soon."
Here is what the public record shows over the past year:
- January 13, 2026: A City of Mission agenda item asked for consent to add Lot A of Sharyland Plantation Village Las Placitas Subdivision Phase I to the El Milagro district.
- January 21, 2026: Killam told the Mission Redevelopment Authority that the El Milagro plat was recorded and that Winfield Communities would survey lots for spec homes. The first 10 homes were described as 1,300 to 2,400 square feet, priced from $250,000 to $400,000, with construction expected to start in late February or early March.
- January 28, 2026: The district board scheduled a public hearing on an application to exclude and include land.
- April 20, 2026: The redevelopment authority's update covered AEP street-light and fiber work and geotechnical lot plotting. It did not confirm that home construction had started.
- September 21, 2026: The authority's agenda included another El Milagro Phase I report.
The district board is active and the lots are recorded. One piece the public record doesn't yet show is a tax rate. The 2025 taxing-entity rate tables on the Hidalgo County Appraisal District site have no entry for El Milagro Management District. That doesn't mean the district will never levy a tax. It means no published rate was available as of this writing, which makes the figure in your own paperwork the one to rely on.
What the caps add up to
The voter-approved caps are easier to judge next to a familiar number. Mission's preliminary FY 2026–27 budget proposed a city property tax rate of $0.5670 per $100, up from $0.5580 the year before. The draft notes that the rate could still change.
Together, El Milagro's two maintenance-tax caps come to $1.25 per $100. That's more than twice the proposed city rate. On a home valued at $300,000, near the middle of the spec-home range Killam described, $1.25 per $100 works out to $3,750 a year. Any bond tax would come on top of that, and the ballot language puts no limit on the bond tax rate. These are caps and authorizations, not a bill the district has issued. The public records gathered for this post don't show that any bonds have been sold yet.
For a family comparing a $260,000 home here with a $260,000 home somewhere else, a few thousand dollars a year in property tax can matter as much as a $20,000 difference in price.
Across town, builders are offering discounts
On the other side of Mission, Rhodes Enterprises' Bentsen Palm Development offers a different kind of comparison. Esperanza Homes builds there, and at the time of research its sales pages advertised builder discounts on top of base prices.
| Community at Bentsen Palm | Advertised starting price | Home sizes | Advertised incentive | Example available home |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sendero, off Inspiration Road and I-2 | $215,990 | 1,234 to 3,037 sq. ft. | $10,000 Flex Discount | 2308 Emory Trail, $237,990, available Nov/Dec 2026 |
| Tanglewood, sales office at 1909 Kingfisher Lane | $263,990 | 1,703 to 3,336 sq. ft. | $15,000 Flex Discount | Oriole Drive, $291,990; Kestrel Drive, $305,990; both available now |
| Retama Village | $145,990 | 480 to 2,279 sq. ft. | $10,000 Flex Discount | 2108 Sanderling Lane cottage, $237,990 |
Builder prices and incentives change often, so treat this as a snapshot from October 2026. Whether these communities sit inside any special district was not confirmed in public records reviewed for this post. That's exactly why the same notice applies here too.
The broader numbers help explain why a buyer has room to ask. As of the mayor's July 8 address, Mission had added 13 subdivisions and 220 residential lots so far in 2026, compared with 27 subdivisions and 943 lots in all of 2025. Permit activity stayed strong over the same stretch, with more than 700 building permits and nearly $140 million in new valuation through early July. The city's record is $190 million, set in 2022. Builders are working through lots that already exist while fewer new ones get platted. For the McAllen–Edinburg–Mission metro, the Greater McAllen Association of Realtors' August 2026 report shows 88 days on market. That pace gives most buyers time to request documents before signing.
The notice that answers the question
Texas sets out the district disclosure in a standard form. The Texas Real Estate Commission's Notice to Purchaser of Special Taxing or Assessment District, Form 59-0, satisfies the written notice that Water Code §§49.452 and 49.4521 require. The law also requires the district to make its own version available, and sellers are directed to use the district's version when one exists.
The form asks for:
- The district's name.
- The current or projected property tax rate.
- The current or projected assessment rate or amount.
- Voter-approved bond amounts and bonds already issued, broken out by facility type.
The form also warns that the district can impose an unlimited tax rate to pay its bonds, and that the information on it can change.
The timing is what protects a buyer. TREC's new-home contract for completed construction, Form 24-20, effective July 1, 2026, addresses this in Paragraph 6.E.(3). When a utility or other statutory district provides water, sewer, drainage or flood-control service, the seller must deliver the notice and the buyer must sign it "prior to final execution of this contract." Public improvement districts follow a separate rule under Property Code §5.014, with their own addendum. That addendum explains that assessments can be paid in full or in annual installments, and that unpaid assessments can lead to a lien.
In practice, a buyer comparing an El Milagro spec home, a Tanglewood quick-move-in home and a resale in an established Mission neighborhood can ask for the district notice on each one before anything is signed. You can check the property's taxing units through the appraisal district.
FAQ
Does living in El Milagro mean paying $1.25 per $100 in district tax? Not necessarily. $1.25 is the combined cap voters approved for the two maintenance taxes.
Did the state dissolve the El Milagro district? No. House Bill 5660 was left pending in committee on April 22, 2025, and never advanced.
Is a public improvement district the same thing as a management district? No. They use different disclosures. Management and utility districts use the Water Code notice, Form 59-0. Public improvement districts use the Property Code §5.014 addendum.
Comparing new construction in Mission means comparing tax notices, not just base prices and incentives. Mauricio Saldana works with builders across the Valley every week and can request the district notice for any community on your list before you sign. Search homes or request a free home valuation, and we'll lay out the full yearly cost for each option side by side.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
