It’s a church; it’s a government center; no — it’s a special interest, tax payer rip-off

The investors make more than $1,000,000 on their investment and the Hays County government would have functioned as a bank for the City of Wimberley and purchased property appraised at $1,350,050 for $2,400,000, and spend an additional $600,000 for renovations

Wimberley Ctiy Council Special Meeting tonight, 6 p.m. See the agenda.

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By Charles O'Dell, Ph.D.

Here’s how it works.

In anticipation of building a new facility, the First Baptist Church in Wimberley sold its land and existing buildings to a group of investors who operated as Wimberley Crossroads LLC. The purchase price was $1,350,050. Wimberley Crossroads paid $350,050 down; the church held a note for $1,000,000. Wimberley Crossroads also agreed to lease the property back to the church so the congregation would have a place to meet while the new facility was under construction.

Enter the first of the deal makers, the realtor/investor …

On March 12, 2007, Tim Fulfer, the local realtor who represented the Wimberley Crossroads investor group and who was, himself, one of the investors, wrote a letter to Wimberley Mayor Tom Haley. In that letter, Fulfer suggested that the Wimberley City Council give consideration to purchasing the property. After all, as Fulfer argued, an abandoned church facility could serve as a perfect city hall and government center.

Enter the second of the deal makers, Precinct 3 County Commissioner Will Conley …

The next thing we know is that Commissioner Conley was on board, roaming all over Wimberley proclaiming the benefits of a combined county-city government center. The City of Wimberley, in the form of City Manager Don Ferguson and his slick power point presentation in a couple of community meetings was proclaiming the many benefits of such a center. Just think of it — city and county satellite offices, and even some state offices, in one centralized location. Sounds good — right? Maybe it sounds like a good idea until you look at the numbers and the behind the scenes shenanigans.

Consider the following:

-- Conley’s original proposal was to have Hays County purchase the property for $2,400,000 and spend an additional $600,000 for renovation. The City of Wimberley would then enter into a lease-purchase agreement for half of the property.
-- Wimberley Crossroads LLC had an appraisal dated January 10, 2007, indicating a market value of $2,585,000.
-- The City of Wimberley commissioned an appraisal; its appraisal dated April 14, 2008, yielded a market value of $2,642,000.
-- But what about Hays County? What did the Hays County Central Appraisal District say? That’s where the problems begin to surface.

As it turns out, the Central Appraisal District had never appraised the church facilities. At first, that may sound normal — after all, it was a church, a tax-exempt entity. But let’s look a little closer.

Over the years, the Central Appraisal District had been appraising the church land, but the church didn’t have to pay taxes because of its tax-exempt status. The buildings, though, had never been appraised. And even when the property changed hands — when it was sold to Wimberley Crossroads LLC, a private entity, there was no change in the appraisal value. The Wimberley Crossroads group owned the property from July 20, 2006, to June 7, 2008, without having to be assessed for any taxes on buildings that are now taxable property.

Meanwhile, Commissioner Will Conley was planning and advertising a community meeting in Wimberley. It would be a time for the public to learn more about this plan for a joint city – county government center. The date of the meeting was June7, 2008. For some reason, and we can only assume that the approaching community meeting that made it necessary to tidy up any questionable matters, the Central Appraisal District finally appraised the buildings. Remember the dates: The community meeting was June 7, 2008; the date of the first full CAD appraisal was June 6, 2008.

So what was the Hays County Central Appraisal District market value? The value for June 6, 2008, was shown as $1,977,720. Eventually, Conley, on behalf of Hays County, and without any formal approval from the Commissioners Court, entered into a contract to have Hays County purchase the property for $ 2,400,000. That’s right; Conley was proposing that Hays County purchase the property for $2,400,000, even though the Hays County Central Appraisal District value was $1,977,720.

That’s bad enough, but it gets worse. A month later, the Central Appraisal District dropped the appraised value by more than $600,000. As of July 18, 2008, the appraised value was reduced to $ 1,350,050…the land dropped to $276,910, and the buildings dropped to $1,073,140.

At the risk of asking the obvious, did your property appraisal drop some 32% last year?

Here’s where we stand now…

The City of Wimberley City Council is holding a special meeting on Monday (this evening), March 30. The City Council will take another look at the proposal. The owners, Wimberley Crossroads LLC, are placing a value of $3,000,000 on the property; the property is appraised by the Hays County Central Appraisal District for $1,350,050.

Commissioner Conley’s plan hasn’t changed. The County would pay $3,000,000 for the property and its renovation. The money, of course, would come from the pockets of tax payers throughout the county. The City of Wimberley would, though a lease-purchase agreement, get space for a bigger and presumably better City Hall.

The long and short of it is this: The investors make more than a $ 1,000,000 on their investment and the Hays County government would have functioned as a bank for the City of Wimberley and purchased property appraised at $1,350,050 for $2,400,000, and spend an additional $600,000 for renovations. As someone from San Marcos said, “It’s a great deal for Wimberley. The folks in Wimberley still don’t pay property taxes, but we do. Why should we finance their new city hall?”

Stay tuned.

As co-founder of Hays Community Action Network (HaysCAN) in 2003, Mr. O’Dell strives to carry out the mission of ensuring open, accessible and accountable government. He is a long time and close observer of the workings of the Hays County Commissioners Court. He earned a degree in Agricultural Education and a Masters in Ag Economics at Texas Tech, and, later, a Ph.D. at The University of Maryland while employed as a Research Economist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in Washington, D.C. Texas born and raised on a family farm, O’Dell is a Hays County Master Naturalist and a board member of the Ethical Society of Austin.