Western League City homeowners are paying two separate property tax bills for drainage services, and the city and the Galveston County Consolidated Drainage District can't agree on who should be doing the work.

Mayor Nick Long says residents on the far west side of League City who fall within the GCCDD are taxed by both the city and the district for what he calls duplicative services. He wants the city to buy the district's infrastructure in that area and end the overlap.

"We have offered to buy the infrastructure from them… We've offered to absorb the services and absorb the cost of maintenance in order to get that portion of League City out of the drainage district and stop the unfair double taxation of those citizens," Long told KGTX 7 News.

GCCDD board president Rusty Burkett disputes both the characterization and the timeline. He said the district has not received any formal offer from League City. He also rejected the "double taxation" framing, saying cities and drainage districts perform different jobs: cities move water from neighborhoods to larger waterways, while the district maintains the creeks and tributaries that carry stormwater toward the bay.

The disagreement turned concrete over a drainage easement in western League City. Long said the GCCDD owns the easement but stopped maintaining it, allowing vegetation, sediment and trees to choke the channel. He said the overgrown easement was acting as a dam, backing up water and flooding nearby homes.

Burkett said the district searched its records back to the 1950s and found no documentation showing it ever accepted responsibility for that easement.

League City didn't wait for the dispute to resolve.

The city obtained permission from the landowner and began clearing the channel. City crews were already working on the Westland Ranch ditch in western League City on July 21, according to a post on the city's official X account, weeks before the public clash with the drainage district. Burkett said he supports the city's clearing work and believes the area falls under League City's responsibility.

Communication between the two entities has been strained. Long described it as "pretty poor," saying the drainage district doesn't want to participate in joint projects. Burkett pushed back, saying the district will cooperate with any city, county, state or federal entity.

Both officials said they are willing to find common ground. The GCCDD maintains roughly 72 miles of creeks and tributaries across Galveston County, according to a Route Fifty report from June 2026. The district's 2026 tax rate has not yet been published.

The GCCDD board meets every second and fourth Tuesday at 7 p.m. No specific agenda item addressing the city's proposed acquisition has been confirmed. Residents can reach the district at (281) 482-0404 or gccdd.dst.tx.us.