Applications wanted for new City Hall planning committee

San Marcos City Council covered several items of note in the regularly scheduled meeting Tuesday. The council approved the upcoming Fiscal Year budget and the proposed tax rate of 60.3 cents per $100 of taxable property value. They also discussed the Hopkins City Center Steering Committee that would provide guidance and feedback throughout the new City Hall and Hopkins Redevelopment Project. The council also approved the annexation and rezoning of a 51 acre property near the high school that will have multifamily units as well as commercial development.

The council voted five to one, with one absent and Alyssa Garza voting against the item, to approve the operating budget for the upcoming fiscal year in the amount of $342,578,537.

“This is the second public hearing on the city’s proposed Fiscal Year 2024 to 2025 annual budget, which begins on Oct. 1 of 2024 and extends through Sept. 30 2025,” San Marcos Mayor Jane Hughson said.

San Marcos City Manager Stephanie Reyes said there was a double count of one of the items under the calculation.

“What that means is the rate that you will be approving falls below the no-new-revenue rate,“ Reyes said. “It does not affect the proposed budget, but it is in favor of our tax payers.”

Reyes wanted to clarify that the rate that is being proposed means the city is bringing in less revenue than was brought in the previous year on properties taxed in both years. This does not include added properties, which Locke said would result in $2.2 million in additional revenue.

The council gave final approval to the tax rate of 60.3 cents per $100 of taxable property value.

San Marcos Finance Director Jon Locke said the operations component of the tax rate is 45 cents, which would mean the city would receive $38,861,814 in budgeted revenue for that component. He said the debt rate is 15.3 cents, which would give a budgeted revenue of $13,213,017 to go toward debt.

“Ms. Reyes mentioned in her opening remarks about a change in the no-new-revenue and voter approval tax rate. This change was due to… a number that was double counted,” Locke said. “The no-new-revenue rate was 59.96 cents prior to the change, and afterwards it is 60.8 cents… Our current and proposed tax rate did not change. It stayed at 60.3 cents, and the voter approval rate went from 70.3 to 71.36 cents, so it increased by a penny.”

Locke said now that the proposed tax rate is below the no-new-revenue rate, it no longer needs to be approved by at least five members on the council and can just be approved by the majority.

The council voted six to zero, with one absent, to approve the proposed tax rate.

The council discussed the new City Hall and Hopkins Redevelopment Project and discussed the creation and appointment process for a Hopkins City Center Steering Committee. The council decided to wait to appoint members until more time had gone by so the public was more informed and more applications would be received. City staff said the purpose of the committee and membership is to provide guidance and feedback throughout the process and to play an advisory role and to attend public engagement opportunities and share news on the project. The council and staff stated their desire is that the membership is diverse and reflective of residents of San Marcos. The members should be invested in the future of San Marcos, show a sincere interest in the project and ability to make the time commitment. Members should be diverse within identities, lived experiences and/or networks and inclusive of communities underrepresented in the city’s engagement and outreach as well as being from San Marcos communities most impacted by the project. The council decided the committee makeup will be as follows: two members chosen by each council member, the mayor, a Library Board member, a P&Z Commission member, a handicapped member of the community or someone associated with that community, a minimum of two from the Rio Vista neighborhood, a member from San Marcos Area Chamber of Commerce, a member from Texas State University, a member from the San Marcos River Foundation and a member from the SMTX Downtown Association.

“There will be at least 17 [people and] could be as many as 26,” Hughson said.

According to the city of San Marcos, the application for the Hopkins City Center Steering Committee should be posted online either today or Monday but a link was not available as of time of press. The deadline to apply will be thirty days from when the application is posted. The members will be appointed at the first city council meeting in November.

San Marcos City Manager Stephanie Reyes asked if the council would like the committee members chosen before or after the election. “I think a new City Hall is one of the most important things we are doing right now,” San Marcos City Council Member Jude Prather, who is not running for re-election, said. “I would like to wait on it.” The council voted to annex and rezone, from Future Development to Character District 4 and Commercial, 51 acres of land generally located on the southern side of FM110/East McCarty Lane and the northern side of Old Bastrop Highway near the high school.

San Marcos Planning and Development Director Amanda Hernandez said the majority of the development will be residential and the rest will be commercial.

“The zoning district [CD-4] allows a variety of residential housing types and the applicant is proposing at this time small multifamily and townhomes,” Hernandez said. “They [Planning and Zoning Commission] did ask about the sliver of land that goes down to Rattler Road. It’s part of a larger tract, but they’re not proposing to use it for any type of ingress or egress. They anticipate it will probably just be a green space. Maybe we’ll ask them to put a sidewalk in there so people can walk around and ride their bikes.”

Charlie Hagar with LJ Engineering said they felt this site would be a great way to kickstart a second city center and provide much needed connectivity to the area.

To learn more about the approved property tax rate go to sanmarcosrecord. com/news/council- approves-proposed-2024-property-tax-rate.