David vs. Goliath: How The Divestiture Changed PK Forever

By Steve Nussbaum

“I guess hell did freeze over today, “Perry quipped as he signed HB 3031 into law

For decades before 2009, the Brazos River Authority (BRA) owned the land around Possum Kingdom Lake and leased the land back to the homeowners.

It may be hard to imagine buying a dream lake house and not owning the land, or not being able to borrow money to fix up the property because the bank wouldn’t loan money on lease property, but that’s what area homeowners faced just over a decade ago.

What started as a commissioned study by The Staubach Group to analyze BRA’s return on its leases turned into a grassroots effort by PK homeowners to take control of their own properties. At that time, BRA’s board was led by powerful political appointees who held huge sway over the state’s water resources. Many in the state felt BRA’s responsibility was to manage the water, not to be in the land-management business. Residents had no representation on who managed the board and felt unfairly taxed on their properties, with no say in how the land was being managed.

When the Staubach report was presented to local residents, it became quite clear that BRA rates for leased property were going to go up. To the residents, it appeared that many homeowners would be priced out of the market, with no chance to own their land.

The first group of concerned citizens met in 2006 to discuss trying to buy the land away from BRA. That discussion kicked off a multiyear fight by a group of local volunteers, and the ensuing bureaucratic and political battles were huge. In the end, though, determination and tenacity paid off.

One of those volunteers was Carolyn Land.

There’s a saying that goes, “If you want to get something done, find a person that’s already busy,†and that saying aptly describes Land. She and her husband, Monte Land, have owned property at Possum Kingdom Lake since 1975, and her grandparents had owned a cabin at Caddo Bay since 1949.

Land grew up in Breckenridge, Texas, while her husband hails from Clarendon, Texas.  The couple met at Tarleton University and married in 1971, and they have been active members of the Possum Kingdom Lake Association (PKLA) since 2005.

The PKLA and the Lands were one of many volunteers  instrumental in the passage of the BRA divestiture bill in 2009, and folks who own property at Possum Kingdom Lake nowadays probably have no idea what it was like before the bill became law.

Before then, the only way to borrow money to buy property at Possum Kingdom was through one of the three local banks. Since the banks had to carry these loans, they didn’t always offer the best rates and terms compared to other lending programs. Updating properties became almost impossible for those who needed to borrow money, and there also were no updated surveys for any of the land.

The banks, real estate agents, title companies and BRA all worked together to help people buy their homes and lease back the land. The whole process made things very unorthodox and more difficult to get a deal done. For instance, if a person wanted to buy a home at PK back then using one of the government-sponsored programs, they were out of luck. The only places not under BRA control were The Cliffs and Sportsman’s World.

Land, recalling one of the first meetings in Austin with area representatives and senators, said volunteers didn’t have a lot of support for the divestiture bill. Then-Gov. Rick Perry expressed his opinion that the bill would pass when “hell froze over,†and at first it looked like he was right. The first bill failed, and BRA had no real interest in selling.

“I was a retired biology teacher, and Monte is a retired football coach,†Land said. “We knew nothing about the inner workings of Austin and getting things done.â€

The two would soon find out, though. The volunteer group learned to rely on some of the local homeowners in the area who had experience raising money and working with lobbyists, and who knew which legislators were needed for political support. They also had local homeowner Michael Patterson on board, ready to finance the deal.

Land and the other volunteers knew from their failed first effort that they needed more statewide support, and their ace in the hole was that people from all across Texas owned homes at PK. So they urged all those homeowners to reach out to their state representatives with a preprinted neon card. These brightly colored cards stated the facts of why BRA needed to sell the land and emphasized that it had no business being in the land-management business. The volunteers sent the cards to folks who then forwarded them to their local state representatives and senators.

“We’d go down to Austin and see these neon cards all over the place, and in all the politicians’ offices,†Land said.

Their plan paid off when legislative support for HB3031 began to take shape.

The delicate political dance began as the volunteer group built support for the bill from the right people in Austin. Land said that having the support of the speaker of the Texas House of Representatives was critical to their efforts, as that’s who dictates the state’s legislative agenda.

To that end, the group gambled and threw its support toward Rep. Joe Straus of San Antonio. The volunteers’ gamble paid off when the Republican won his election in 2008 and became speaker in 2009, and HB3031 kept moving forward.

Meanwhile, Patterson was working with concerned local citizens on the details of the purchase. According to archived articles in the Lake Country Sun, Patterson knew the only way it would work is if he had the support of the local homeowners and PKLA.

The political maneuvering continued for months, during which time Land and the other volunteers traveled to Austin more than 50 times to meet with committees and other agencies.

“We basically lived in Austin for four years,†Land said.

As the bill looked to be heading toward passage, an unnamed congressmen told Land: “I’ll support your bill if you promise to stop sending those g—–n neon cards.â€

HB3031 ultimately won passage to become law in May 2009 – and, according to reports in the Lake Country Sun, Patterson bought the land from the BRA for just over $50 million.

According to news reports from that same year, homeowners were able to buy their land at a discounted rate of the 2008 appraised value. For almost all of them, this turned into instant equity in their property and allowed them to now own their own land.

“I guess hell did freeze over today,†Perry quipped as he signed HB3031 into law, according to Land.

The impact on PK real estate was felt almost immediately.

“The divestiture was the best thing to ever happen to real estate and the community out here,†said Valerie Klapper, who has been selling real estate at PK for 20 years. “It was a big deal for everyone.â€

“Before the divestiture, you would lose 15 percent to 20 percent of your buyers, because they couldn’t own the land,†added Mike Powell, who has been selling PK real estate since 1991. “This brought those people back. Now people could get longer loan terms, less money down and work with a broader range of banks.â€

Klapper and Powell agreed that the instant equity for homeowners was a huge advantage of the divestiture, and PK homeowners after 2009 owe folks behind the PKLA and it’s volunteers a huge debt of gratitude. Their efforts paid off in the form of a thriving PK real estate market, and a tourist and business community that is only getting bigger.