HOA on Steroids: McKinney Adopts Restrictive Code to Dictate Private Property Standards

Imagine waking up to a knock on your door from a municipal code enforcement officer, clipboard in hand, ready to fine you because your driveway has a minor hairline crack, your yard's grass is a fraction of an inch too tall, or your window trim has slightly peeling paint. For citizens of McKinney, this is no longer a distant dystopian fantasy. It is the direct consequence of local politicians deciding that they know how to manage your private property better than you do.

On October 5, 2026, the McKinney City Council voted to approve City File 26-0946 and its companion ordinance City File 26-0947, officially adopting the restrictive 2024 Edition of the International Property Maintenance Code (IPMC). This sweeping code update, paired with several local amendments, establishes highly detailed, legally enforceable requirements governing the physical conditions, structural maintenance, and utility systems of all residential and nonresidential properties within McKinney city limits. Under the guise of public safety, the city has essentially established an HOA-style municipal apparatus over every single homeowner and business.

This aggressive regulatory creep is part of a broader, state-wide pattern of local governments weaponizing code compliance. According to a landmark study by the Reason Foundation, Taxation by Citation Report, Texas local governments amassed a staggering $1.17 billion in fines and fees in 2020, representing more than $35 per resident. Reason Foundation's Texas Commentary warns that when cities depend on code enforcement citations to balance budgets, compliance offices transition from keeping peace to operating as regressive tax collection machines that disproportionately harm low-income families and independent business owners.

Furthermore, the Institute for Justice has repeatedly fought against arbitrary local property regulations that violate the Texas Constitution. In their landmark case, Texas Home Day Care Case Study, the Institute for Justice defended a single mother's economic liberty against Lakeway's oppressive municipal codes. The case demonstrated that under the Texas Constitution, local governments do not have unlimited authority to impose subjective property restrictions that restrict honest work and peaceful property use. McKinney's decision to adopt a rigid international code is a step backward for local liberty, placing more power in the hands of code compliance officers and less in the hands of the citizens who actually own the land.

Sources

McKinney City Council Agenda File 26-0946 (Official McKinney Ordinance File, 2026)

McKinney City Council Companion File 26-0947 (Official McKinney Companion Ordinance File, 2026)

Reason Foundation: Taxation by Citation Report (Policy Report, 2020)

Institute for Justice: Texas Home Day Care Case Study (Legal Case Analysis, 2022)