Item 141- Hays County Appraisal District Office Proposal

[Max Lars]

Council Members—

On Thursday’s agenda, we have item 141, which is a request from the Hays County Appraisal District (HCAD). It relates to a proposal for HCAD to acquire property, within Hays County, to build a new office facility.

State law requires an appraisal district to obtain the approval by three-fourths of the governing bodies of the taxing units within the appraisal district to acquire property, construct, or renovate a building. This is why this resolution is on our agenda.

City Council has 30 days to act (approve or disapprove) after the date the mayor receives notice of the proposal. I was not sent this until June 25th.
If we do not act before that 30th day or fail to file the resolution with the chief appraiser for Hays Central Appraisal District on or before the 10th day after that 30th day, the proposal is treated as if it were approved by the City Council.

So far, the City of Kyle, Dripping Springs, and Hays County have all denied HCAD’s resolution. These jurisdictions expressed that they are not necessarily against the project, but they need more understanding around the strategy for this project and the impact that it could have on their taxpayers.

I recommend that we also deny the resolution from HCAD and ask them to provide us with more information regarding the project, taxpayer/budget impacts, and providing more time for the impacted taxpayers with the opportunity to provide input prior to us approving an item in the future.

I’ve included the following prepared motion and the redline version of the resolution that I’ll bring during tomorrow’s discussion:

Motion sheet: http://assets.austintexas.gov/austincou ... 151201.pdf

Redline version of the resolution: http://assets.austintexas.gov/austincou ... 151234.pdf

Since we have a full agenda. I intend to keep the item on the consent agenda and will bring this motion up when we vote on the consent agenda.

I wanted to provide this context for the council prior to tomorrow’s meeting and hope you all agree with this decision.

Thanks—

Kirk
On Behalf of Mayor Watson