The Fort Bend County Central Appraisal District Board has decided to take another shot at gaining approval for a proposed new building, despite recent indications the idea is far from popular.
Under that proposal, the CAD would buy about 12 acres of land at Bamore and Klauke Road in western Fort Bend County and build a new office building on the property, at a total cost “not to exceed $6.4 million.”
Earlier this month, and a few hours after the Fort Bend Independent School District Board voted unanimously against it, the CAD board pulled its proposal from the agenda of the Fort Bend County Commissioners Court.
At the same meeting, Precinct 1 Commissioner Richard Morrison unveiled a resolution of his own, opposing the CAD board’s plan and offering the alternative of staying in its existing 25,000-square-foot building and assuming 5,000 more square feet of space after a new courts complex results in moves that will make such space available.
But the court never voted on Morrison’s resolution, with County Judge Bob Hebert calling it a moot issue since the CAD pulled its resolution seeking approval of its building proposal.
Yet, Hebert and Precince 3 Commissioner Andy Meyers indicated they agreed with Morrison that the CAD’s $6.4 million construction proposal wasn’t to their liking.
“I don’t think it’s the job of the court to solve the CAD’s office space problems,” he said. “That’s a lot of money. I’m not happy with the financial request.”
Meyers and Morrison indicated they hoped CAD board members would work toward what Meyers called a solution that would be “less costly and more viable to the citizens.”
Instead, a draft agenda item has been submitted for the June 23 Commissioners Court meeting that appears to be identical to the agenda item the CAD requested by pulled at the June 9 meeting.
Chief CAD appraiser Glen Whitehead could not be reached to comment on the matter Thursday.
In order to proceed with its building plans, the CAD would need to gain approval from three-quarters of property taxing entities in Fort Bend County, which Meyers said number more than 170, including the county, school boards, local cities and municipal utility districts.
Meyers said Thursday he was surprised the CAD had chosen to bring the same proposal back to Commissioners Court so quickly. He added that he had hoped to talk to Whitehead and CAD Board members about potential alternatives, “rather than continue to push something that just isn’t going to fly, in my opinion.”
Meyers said he has spoken to two developers with projects being built in Precinct 3, and both indicated they would be willing to donate land for a CAD building. One of them, with a project near Mason Road and the Grand Parkway, is willing to donate 10 acres.
Also, the county conceivably could build a new building for the CAD and then rent it to them, as is the case with the current and now apparently overcrowded CAD offices on F.M. 2218, Meyers said. After paying the county back over 10 years for the construction cost, the county has since been charging the CAD just $100 a month in rent.
“For some reason or other, the CAD wants to build their own building. As one of the board members put it, ‘we want to control our own destiny.’ I’m not sure what they mean by that,” Meyers said.
