During its December 19 meeting, Hays County Commissioners Court approved the Joint Election Agreement (JEA) between the Republican and Democratic parties for the 2024 political primary election.

Jennifer Doinoff, Hays County elections administrator, represented the Hays County Elections office and the respective political parties in their support of the agreement. Doinoff praised both parties for their ability to work together.

“I do want to thank our parties… a lot of other counties are dealing with party issues… both [of our] parties work really well together,” Doinoff said.

A JEA is an agreement between the Republican and Democratic parties to allow for primary voting for their respective primaries to take place within the same polling locations if the election is, according to the Texas Election Code, “held on the same day in … the same county.”

The JEA comes as the GOP and Democratic primary elections come to Texas, an open primary state, on March 5, 2024.

Judge Ruben Becerra further praised the parties and expressed desire for a peaceful electoral process.

“Just because there may be turmoil at another level of government doesn’t mean we have to bring it home,” Becerra said.

The court also discussed authorizing an interlocal agreement regarding the City of Kyle Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone (TIRZ).

The proposed TIRZ would be a 100-acre development zone located alongside I-35 in Kyle and would be the fifth zone established in the city. Funding for the TIRZ would be split in half, with Hays County providing a percentage of real property taxes collected for the project and Kyle providing the rest.

Funding within the zone would be used for various transportation and capital improvements, such as retail, restaurants and multifamily housing.

During the discussion, Commissioner Debbie Ingalsbe expressed concerns over the possible inclusion of road and bridge taxes in the funding of the TIRZ but praised the discussion for happening in the court.

“We spoke about [the TIRZ] extensively in executive session, it needed to be brought out into court for the public to understand what we are doing here,” Ingalsbe said.

The TIRZ was passed with a 5-0 vote.

The Hays County Commissioners Court meets at 9 a.m. on select Tuesdays each month. For more information, visit its website.