The Brazos Central Appraisal District will have to make a third pitch to buy land to build its own offices.
That’s after Brazos County commissioners voted unanimously against the purchase of land that would be taken off the tax rolls.
County Judge Duane Peters and commissioner Sammy Catalena also said BCAD did not need a prime location in a higher traffic location. Catalena said “I don’t understand why you need high exposure, high-visibility, high curb appeal. You don’t have any competition. You’re not like a convenience store where people are going to walk by or drive by and say ‘Oh, we need to stop at the appraisal district and go in there and shop.”
Peters explained one of two county owned parcels by the new tax office is being held for possible sale to a buyer that will return the land to the tax rolls.
As for the second parcel, Peters apologized to the appraisal board for not being more clear last February, after the first pitch was defeated, about its availability but only at a price that was higher than its appraised value.
BCAD board member John Flynn told Peters responded by telling Peters he wished he “would have heard that feedback in February.”
Flynn and another BCAD member, Tim Jones, both requested clear direction from the commission in order to draft a third proposal that will be accepted by the five agencies that fund the appraisal district’s operations.
Jones said BCAD needs “a clean shopping list so that if we have to come back again that we can do that. And the reason is in all candor folks, the other taxing entities that we have responsibility to……Those other entities appear to be a bit reticent to do anything because they’re not sure what’s happening here (at the county). And it’s a shame when it get played out in a different way. The central appraisal district is a different entity than any of the elected bodies because we have to go herd cats and get approval from five different groups whereas you folks would do it in executive session…it is much more efficient and allows you to negotiate fairly and those kind of things. So we’re trying to do right and we would appreciate if not approval, clear guidance so we can bring something you’re going to be happy with. And that’s our goal, we serve our taxpayers well.”
After the vote, commissioners suggested a joint meeting that would include the other agencies, who are the Bryan and College Station school boards and city councils. And Commissioner Lloyd Wassermann called for “a gentleman’s discussion and come up with resolutions that are fitting for everybody involved, all of the entities. And I think it can be done if we approach it in a professional way. And I think we will.”
