Fort Bend County will hold a special Commissioners Court meeting Monday, Aug. 24, with a single purpose: creating the reinvestment zone that Tesla needs for its proposed $10.1 billion solar cell factory near Richmond. The outcome matters countywide. Katy and Fulshear homeowners already face a Sept. 10 budget deadline that the same political standoff could derail.

The agenda posted Aug. 17 lists a public hearing and vote on Reinvestment Zone No. 34, covering roughly 3,057 acres near FM 762 and FM 1994 in Precinct 2. That acreage matches the site Tesla identified in its "Project Crystal Sun" application filed July 22 through consulting firm Kroll, according to Electrek. The project promises 9,712 permanent jobs and commercial production by early 2029.

The boycott could block it.

County Judge Daniel Wong signed the meeting notice but has said he will recuse himself from any Tesla vote because his engineering firm has worked with the company. That leaves Republican commissioners Vincent Morales (Precinct 1, which includes Fulshear) and Andy Meyers (Precinct 3) as the only members available to act. Creating the zone under Chapter 312 of the Texas Tax Code requires a majority of the court. If Democratic commissioners Grady Prestage (Precinct 2) and Dexter McCoy (Precinct 4) continue their nearly two-month boycott, the vote falls one short.

Prestage and McCoy have refused to attend meetings since late June, arguing Wong lacks legal authority to preside. In an Aug. 5 social media post, Prestage said, "Until these legal questions are resolved, or until Mr. Wong makes the gracious decision to sit out these critical votes while the court weighs in, we don't believe we can participate in the Commissioners Court proceedings consistent with that oath."

The boycott's stakes extend well beyond Tesla. The county's final budget and tax-rate vote is scheduled for Sept. 10, and Texas law requires four of five commissioners present to adopt a tax rate. Without that quorum, the county would default to a no-new-revenue rate of about 40.5 cents per $100 of taxable value instead of the proposed 41.2 cents, costing an estimated $21.3 million in revenue, Finance Director Pamela Gubbels told ABC13. The proposed cost-of-living raise for county employees would also be eliminated.

For the average Fort Bend homeowner with a taxable value of $322,324, the difference is about $54 a year.

County Auditor Ed Sturdivant warned at an Aug. 6 budget workshop that reverting to the default rate would force the county to halt future bond sales, pause mobility and parks projects and delay debt issuance until at least fiscal year 2028. Recovery, he said, could take "as many as five years."

District Judge Edward Krenek ruled Aug. 6 that Wong may remain in the county judge seat while the legal challenge proceeds, but the court timeline runs well past the budget deadline. Briefs are due Aug. 28, with a hearing set for Oct. 16 and trial for Nov. 10 if unresolved, according to the Houston Press.

The Aug. 24 special meeting begins at 9 a.m. at 401 Jackson St. in Richmond. Residents can attend in person or watch the live stream at fortbendcountytx.gov. Anyone who wants to speak must submit a Public Participant Form at least 15 minutes before the meeting starts and check in with the Court Services team upon arrival.

The next regular Commissioners Court meeting is Aug. 27. Public hearings on the proposed FY 2027 budget and tax rates are scheduled for Sept. 9 and Sept. 10.