Mortgage Lender Serving Princeton, TX

The City of Princeton's FAQ on its extraterritorial jurisdiction answers a question that decides a lot of mortgage math: residents of the ETJ do not pay taxes to the City of Princeton. The same FAQ says ETJ residents get law enforcement from the Collin County Sheriff, fire and emergency response through applicable districts and county road maintenance, that non-city utilities such as water districts and electric providers operate independently, and that the city reviews subdivision of land, stormwater, utilities and driveways but has no zoning authority there.

State law points the same direction: including an area in a city's ETJ does not by itself authorize the city to tax it. For a buyer, an address near Princeton does not settle which taxing units apply. Ask the appraisal district or the county tax office which units levy on the parcel, and send us the tax statement.

The city's Public Works department includes a Water Division, which buys treated water from the North Texas Municipal Water District, and a Sewer Division, which collects wastewater and sends it to the district's regional lift station. Culleoka Water Supply Corporation, a member-owned nonprofit incorporated in 1965, describes its area as the rural land south of Princeton and north of Lake Lavon.

A city application form for sewer-only accounts says billing for that sewer service is handled by Culleoka along with the customer's water bill, so a home may have city sewer and Culleoka water. The form is undated, so confirm how a specific address is served. Ask who provides water and sewer, who sends the bills, and what it takes to transfer the account at closing.

The city's Special Financing Districts page says such districts are authorized by several state statutes, including Chapters 372 and 375 of the Texas Local Government Code, and that residents repay improvement costs through additional assessments or property taxes on top of the taxes levied by the city, county and school district. It lists the public improvement districts by name and says they are managed by a third-party administrator, MuniCap, whose contact details are on the page. It also encourages residents to review the documents they signed at closing.

Council adopted a PID policy on December 8, 2025. It says a recorded landowner's agreement must warn prospective owners, that closing statements and sales contracts for lots must say who pays any existing PID assessment until it is paid in full, and that the PID must be disclosed on any listing. It also says the city's contract with an administrator is to provide for either billing owners directly or giving the county tax office the information to bill them, which is why you should ask how a particular PID is billed.

Any assessment is part of how we qualify you, since Fannie Mae's Selling Guide lists special assessments among the items in monthly housing expense. Bring us the closing documents for the lot.

Princeton ISD says it serves the city of Princeton and the surrounding communities of Culleoka, Lowry Crossing, Branch, Climax and the west side of Lake Lavon. That is a wider footprint than the city alone, so an address in Princeton or in one of those nearby communities deserves its own check. The district's enrollment department handles attendance zone questions, and the district's tax is levied separately from the city's.