Question about Deed Restrictions

[Joe Lippeatt]

My homeowners association has just imposed an additional fee per homeowner of $50 "Community Service Fee" for the next 4 years.  There was no vote or discussion, the $50 for this year showed up on our bill, and we received a letter saying we had to pay it.  

With 1,600 homes, that's a little over $300,000.  The say they have the power to suddenly add these additional fees based on Section 204.010 (9) of the Texas Property Code - which was intended for things like renting common areas and club houses to residents.  But they are claiming they can use this to collect money to buy a new wall along Bellaire.  Only a fraction of the neighborhood is adjacent to Bellaire, so only a few people will benefit from this new fee.

The current wall is in disrepair due to drag racing and car crashes on Bellaire.  Rather than seeking money from the car insurance of the people that crash into the wall, they are adding this additional "Community Service Fee" to the homeowners without seeking a vote.  

We were not given an opportunity to vote on this, or decide how the wall should be replaced (or if it should be replaced at all).

Can an HOA arbitrarily assign extra fees to every single homeowner to pay for repairs that should be paid for by the people that damaged the property?  

Thanks for any input,

Joe