Small Texas Oil Town Property Soars to $5 Billion Thanks to Fracking

The shale oil and gas boom has skyrocketed property values in the tiny town of Cotulla, Texas, from $550 million in 2011 to a staggering $5 billion in 2013, reports Newsmax.

Cotulla’s wealth explosion has also tripled tax revenues. That means 1,300 new iPads in every students’ hands, new school buses, football stadium upgrades, remodeled education office space, and no more asking parents to pony up extra cash for school supplies.

Cotulla-LaSalle County Chamber of Commerce Manager Mariane Hall says the windfall is “all related to the shale industry. This was what woke us up and put us on the map,” said Hall. 

The fracking boom has also been a boon to the construction and hospitality sectors. 

“Originally, we had four hotels,” Cotulla city administrator Larry Dovalina told Newsmax. “Now we have 23 either built or being built. Our population tripled in the same period. We’re estimated now north of about 10,000.”

Ramirez-Burks Elementary School technology department worker Rafael Denivdez says the town’s transformation is a classic tale of rags-to-riches.

“We were once the poorest district,” said Denivdez. “Now we went to being one of the richest districts.”