County commissioners call for tax relief
Tuesday’s Commissioners Court meeting will discuss a resolution urging the state to provide tax relief to businesses and residents of Hays County.
The resolution addresses Governor Greg Abbott, Comptroller Glenn Hegar, the Texas Legislature and the Hays Central Appraisal District.
Directions from the resolution include extending the deadline to pay all taxes, granting a moratorium on property tax penalties and interest and updating the Property Tax Code to allow for relief measures during Declared Disasters.
They also call for granting of an “immediate, transparent public review of 2020 Appraisal Values in Hays County before July 25, 2020” and “ensuring the right of citizens to a fair, transparent, and proper hearing process of property appraisal value protests with the Hays Central Appraisal District.”
The resolution asks for a special legislative session to be called to take appropriate executive action to ease the economic burdens and financial hardship Texans are experiencing due to the COVID-19 pandemic; they call for a special session to also “consider mandating reappraisals and revaluations of properties in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, modifying the Tax Code Section 11.35 to specify that economic considerations can apply in temporary reappraisals and to codify in the Tax Code that Appraisal Districts can roll back appraised values to the lesser of the current or previous years valuations in times of federally declared disasters.”
The commissioners will also discuss requesting a postponement of CAMPO’s 2045 Regional Transportation Plan because of the lack of input from the community due to shelter-in-place orders. CAMPO already extended the citizen comment period to April 27 due to lack of participation.
The draft plan calls for several new highways in the Blanco and Onion Creek watersheds, with an estimated cost of over $1.1 billion in the Blanco River watershed of western Hays County alone.
Hays County Judge Ruben Becerra said, “We must focus county transportation investments on US-290, the I-35 corridor, downstream of the Edwards Aquifer and scaling back and removing unneeded road projects in western Hays County. For a fraction of the cost, we can make the safety improvements we need for those of us who live here, for visitors and for the newcomers who will move here wanting the same clean water, clean air and scenic Hill Country that we do, without compromising the safety of our citizens, or the health and well-being of our river systems. Concrete upstream means flooding downstream.”
