Texas City local services

The Building Inspections Department issues permits and books inspections in the MGO software. The City Commission approved a higher permit and inspection fee schedule in September 2025, and every residential permit has followed it since October 1, 2025. The city lists the 2024 International Codes and the 2023 National Electrical Code as its adopted codes.

Contractors and homeowners doing permitted work register in the same portal. Registration needs liability insurance with the City of Texas City named as certificate holder, and when the business owner isn't the license holder, both have to register. Ask for a contractor's MGO registration before any deposit changes hands.

Texas City jobsite rules in hurricane season

The city posts building memos on jobsite cleanliness and debris control during hurricane season, and on showing the company name on the lot. A job with no company name posted is worth a phone call to the inspections office.

Texas City and La Marque sit behind the Texas City storm levee, which the city says should protect against all but extremely high tides. The city's emergency page also quotes the National Weather Service: more than 500,000 people within 10 miles of Galveston Bay and in Brazoria County may face tidal flooding in a major hurricane.

Look up any address on FEMA's Flood Map Service Center before you buy or build, and expect changes: FEMA is preparing new Flood Insurance Rate Maps for Galveston County. Galveston County is one of the 14 first-tier coastal counties under TDI's Windstorm Inspection Program, so new construction, additions and repairs, re-roofs included, must be built to TDI standards and inspected for a WPI-8 Certificate of Compliance to qualify for TWIA wind and hail cover. A flood policy doesn't pay for wind or hail damage.

Texas City is in ERCOT's retail-choice area. PowerToChoose lists plans in ZIP 77590 under both CenterPoint Energy Houston Electric and Texas-New Mexico Power, so the wires company depends on your address and you choose your own retail electric provider. For water and sewer, confirm with the city's utility office who bills your address and whether any watering restriction is in force before you book lawn or pool work.

City solid-waste customers get weekly brush pickup: piles no longer than 8 feet, within 12 feet of the curb, and clippings in clear bags. Bulky items go out once a week on your route's day, but construction materials aren't collected, so a contractor should haul away its own debris. Galveston County Mosquito Control takes spray requests at 800-842-5622, and the Galveston Central Appraisal District values property and takes protests through its online portal.

• Around the house: plumbers, AC repair, roofers who handle WPI-8 inspections, pest control and house cleaning.
• Moving and staying active: movers and gyms.
• Professional help: attorneys, dentists and real estate agents.

Texas City incorporated in 1911 and had 51,898 residents in the 2020 Census. It belongs to our Houston and Gulf Coast region. Galveston works under the same county windstorm rules with its own island permits, and League City shares the county mosquito program.