Medina County appraisal district asks Medina Valley ISD to cover $32,000-a-year share for new office

Medina Valley ISD trustees heard a presentation Jan. 27 from Cynthia Malone, chair of the Medina County Central Appraisal District, explaining the appraisal district aims to buy and renovate a building in Hondo and is asking taxing entities in the county to approve financing.

Malone told the board the appraisal district has identified a 7,900-square-foot metal building on 18th Street that faces the railroad on U.S. 90 and has negotiated a purchase price below the listed $1.2 million. She said the appraisal district estimates total purchase plus renovations at about $1.6 million and intends to finance that amount over 20 years. Medina Valley ISD's share, Malone said, would be about $32,000 per year; she corrected a recent newspaper report that had misstated the figure as $32,000 per month.

The appraisal district plans to use roughly $200,000 from its building fund at closing and expects to borrow about $1.6 million; Malone said $300,000 would remain in reserve for renovations, furniture and contingencies. She said the appraisal district must provide a letter from Chief Appraiser Johnette Dixon to each taxing entity; once that happens, each taxing entity will have 30 days to adopt an approving resolution, and the appraisal district needs 12 of 15 taxing-entity approvals to proceed.

Board members pressed Malone on alternatives and long-term costs. Trustees asked whether the appraisal district had considered locating outside Hondo, building new on county airport lots (estimated at about $300 per square foot for new construction), or leasing space. Malone said the appraisal district considered renting, new construction, and several existing buildings in Hondo; she said a recent inspection of the chosen building was "fairly clean" and that the building has adequate plumbing and multiple front doors the district would reduce for security.

Malone said the appraisal district currently occupies roughly 3,000 square feet and expects staffing to grow from 11 employees now to perhaps 13—15 over the next decade. She said the appraisal district needs a hearing room for summer hearings and a boardroom, and that the taxing entities fund the purchase and renovations in proportion to the taxes the appraisal district collects for them.

No board action was taken at the Jan. 27 meeting. Malone said the appraisal district board has adopted its resolution and that MVISD and other taxing entities will receive a letter from the chief appraiser asking for approval; the district indicated the matter will return to taxing entities for formal votes within the required timelines.

Questions raised by board members included requests for a five- to ten-year maintenance and capital plan for the older 1970s-era building, clarification of the appraisal district's estimated renovation cost per square foot, and confirmation that the appraisal district would follow the Texas Municipal Procurement Act when bidding construction contracts above statutory thresholds.

Malone said the appraisal district hopes to close in March, solicit construction bids after engaging an architect (the appraisal district said it has an architect who previously worked on another appraisal-district office), and complete renovations in roughly 12—14 months, with a target move-in by mid-2026.

The appraisal district-related materials and the formal resolution request will be delivered to taxing entities in the coming days; trustees were told they will have 30 days to respond after receiving the chief appraiser's letter.

Ending: The presentation left several trustees urging fuller analysis of long-term operating and replacement costs before a taxing entity vote. The appraisal district will return materials and a model resolution for taxing-entity consideration; Medina Valley ISD did not vote on funding at the Jan. 27 meeting.