The Hays County Commissioners Court unanimously approved placing a road bond on the Nov. 5 general ballot, which will affect property taxes and road quality if passed.
The bond calls for the county’s use of $439 million to work on the maintenance, construction and operation of 27 county road projects.
If the bond is approved, property taxes would go up by about 2 cents for every $100 of a home’s value, according to the proposed road bond plan. This would be an annual increase of about $80 for a $400,000 home, or approximately $7 a month.
“There is a hairpin turn that is a death trap,” Commissioner Walt Smith said. “There’s other places that are death traps and there’s been multiple wrecks in those areas… To say we are not going to try to make needed improvement to those curves is untrue.”
The commissioners court approved the order for a bond election at its Aug. 13 meeting. County residents would either vote for or against the borrowing of money for the bond projects.
The proposed road bond plan stated the reasons for the bond include improving safety and mobility, responding to rapid population growth, addressing current infrastructure and supporting economic development. According to U.S. Census data, Hays County had a growth of around 39,000 people from 2020 to 2023.
“I think a lot of the projects on this proposed bond, whether east or west of the county, most of them are probably behind the growth,” Commissioner Lon Shell said. “It’s hard sometimes to get ahead of things when you are growing this fast…but I think most of them are probably at the point of needing improvement.”
There are four Buda projects, three Dripping Spring projects, seven Kyle projects and two San Marcos projects. The two San Marcos projects include Leah Avenue and Centerpoint Road.
The Leah Avenue project is estimated to cost $1.8 million and is designed to connect two existing road segments of Leah Avenue. The Centerpoint Road project is estimated to cost $30.7 million and will construct a grade separation over a Union Pacific railroad.
However, several Hays County environmental organizations, including the San Marcos River Foundation (SMRF) and Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance, submitted a letter to the Hays County Commissioners Court on Aug. 9, requesting a delay in placing the road bond on the ballot.
“Many of the roads included in the proposed bond package would cross and encroach upon high-quality creeks and rivers, along with the watersheds and tributaries and the native species and habitat that rely upon them,” the organizations wrote in the letter.
The organizations argued there weren’t enough public meetings about the bond and the proposed road project would harm the environment.
“We feel like there could be a better bond packet put together and voted on next year with more community input to take into account the true needs of the county… whether they be safety or congestion and avoid environmentally sensitive areas,” Executive Director of SMRF Virginia Parker said.
The joint letter additionally states the concern that this bond was properly publicized. In an email statement to The Star, Bill Bunch, executive director of Save Our Spring Alliance, wrote public notices for the court meetings were “inadequate and intentionally misleading.”
A proposed agenda item suggested creating committees in each precinct to share information about the road bond with the public. However, the Hays County commissioners did not take any action on this item when it was on the court’s Aug. 20 or Sept. 3 meeting agenda.
At the Aug. 13 meeting, Hays County Judge Ruben Becerra said he supported the placement of the bond on the Nov. 5 ballot because it is a presidential election year, meaning more people will be voting than usual.
According to a Hays County press release, informational open houses about the bond will be held prior to the election through the county to better inform citizens. Dates for those are yet to be finalized.
“Our view is that the proposal was intentionally slipped through and put on the ballot with almost no one knowing about the proposal or having a voice to help shape what was put on the ballot,” Bunch wrote.
Christine Adams • Sep 24, 2024 at 12:55 pm
Thank you for reporting on this, it is crucial that people of Hays county be informed about what changes are being made to address public safety as well as taking into consideration environmental sensitivity. IMHO, it has long be a tactic of the government to silently push projects without them being properly investigated by the citizens or the critics. Yes, we want public safety and yes we want to treat the environment appropriately. Such a swift timeline is suspect. What are they trying to pull over us? Perhaps the bid went to a chum that is going to take citizen’s tax dollars and do a subpar job? The Shoalcreek project in Austin was one such catastrophe.