Medina County will have a public hearing on August 26 at 9 AM in the Medina County Courthouse Annex located in the Commissioner’s Court room in Hondo. The current proposed budget will increase the budget by $3.7 million compared to last year. Increasing property taxes from higher appraisals accounts for much of it, as well as new property added to the tax roll with the massive growth Medina County is seeing.
A majority of County leaders received raises this year. Raises and travel expenses for county leaders in this year’s budget can be seen in the public notice on page 7.
How growth has impacted the county…
Experts cite population growth and increased development as one of the reasons property taxes have skyrocketed in areas like ours. The rapid influx of people and expansion of communities requires additional infrastructure, amenities, and services to meet the growing needs.
Many of the developers costs are offset by tax incentives called TIRZ zones in Medina County.
The first major development in the Castroville area, Potranco Ranch, included tax incentives for developers called a TIRZ zone. When we checked last summer, under the TIRZ agreement offered by Medina County commissioners, Potranco Ranch’s developers was projected to receive a total Reimbursement Amount of over $12 million dollars ($12,295,461) over a 30 year period.
As of May 2024, so far the county had remitted $1.9 million to developers of Potranco Ranch developers.
So for example, in 2024 of the $751K projected property tax revenue in the zone, an amount of $516K was to be paid back to developers, while the county was projected to recieve $221K of the $751K collected.
And that is just the amount of money that has been remitted to one of the 4 TIRZ zones in the county.
As reported in May, with Medina County farms and ranches being subdivided rapidly, land being used for agriculture decreased by over 15,600 acres in one year (2023-2024). The amount of ag land lost last year is more than the amount of agriculture land lost than in the previous five years combined.
At the same time, land used for residential increased by over 15,500 acres in Medina County in the same 1-year time period (2023-2024).
The number of homes in Medina County has grown from18,791 homes in 2017 to 25,938 in 2024 (as of May), according to Medina County Chief Appraiser Johnette Dixon, who provided the sobering facts and figures.
According to Dixon, Medina County also saw a 237% increase in net Taxable Value from 2017 to 2024 (as of May). The increase is due to new industrial properties, new developments, and the overall market in general, she said.
Average Home values:
Average home values in Medina County had jumped by $41,000+ in just two year’s time as seen in the chart below (info as of May 2024).
2022 – $253,805
2023 – $295,180
2024- $295,475 (as of May 2024)
NOTE: You may notice other public hearings such as the one for ESD4. That is a separate taxing entity, as Medina County does not provide its own emergency ambulance service or fire services. Each ESD in the county is responsible for taxing and providing ambulance and fire service to their respective communities.