COUNTY CLOSER TO BUILD SOUTHMOST BLVD. TAX FACILITY

 By Juan Montoya

Years ago, when Cameron County Tax Assessor-Collector Tony Yzaguirre was a boy in the Southmost area, the City of Brownsville Public Utility Board's water tower on the property of the Brownsville Independent School District next to Cormack Elementary loomed over the barrio.

Now, in an unprecedented effort, all four entities – the county, PUB, the City of Brownsville, and the BISD – have partnered to use the property next to the school where the tower used to be to bring the services of his office and other county departments to the residents of Southmost, one of the fastest growing areas on  the city's southeast side.

And after years of planning to bring the county services to the barrio, Yzaguirre's dream is one step closer with the commissioner's court deciding today to advertise for competitive sealed proposals to build the facility. 

The effort began way back in April of 2018, when Yzaguirre was visiting his mother who still lives on 28th Street and whose home was literally in the shadow of the old tower, and he noticed that the PUB had started its demolition of the  landmark of the area.

Many residents gave directions based on "la tinaja de agua" to guide people to the barrio. The 1.0 MG multi-column elevated storage tank was constructed in 1969 and was judged to be in "poor" condition by Brad McCrea–Dunham Engineering on March 2016. They recommended it be demolished due to its condition. The tower had not been in use for more than a year before their inspection.

"I thought to myself, this would be the perfect place to build a tax office and allow people to access all the services we provide across the county," Yzaguirre recalled. "So I set about to see if there was a way for us to acquire it."

Yzaguirre found out that the site consisted of two different tracts of land, one belonging to BISD and another to the city. He said the land was donated by the Fox family through a deed that it be used for "public purposes." In fact, a title search determined that the PUB did not have title to the land.

From there on, after a series of meetings,  title searches, presentations before the city and the BISD stretching over three years, some 36 months, both entities agreed to donate the properties to the county to build the multi-service tax office at the site.

On May 27, 2020, the city commission agreed to transfer their share of the property to the county for the tax office. The BISD followed suit on March 30, 2021, and signed an Interlocal Agreement transferring their share of the property to the county with the only stipulation that a part of it be used as a retaining pond for runoff from adjacent BISD properties.

This Tuesday, the county commissioners voted to accept the real estate warranty deeds from the city and the ILA from the BISD to the land to be filed with the county clerk and to start the process to build the facility. 

Yzaguirre says an architect will be hired to design the facility which will include drive-through service, as well as ingress and egress from Lima Street and ample parking as well as computer terminals to the Cameron County District and County Clerk's Offices.  

"We envision a 4,200-square foot facility," he said. "We also found out that there is an existing easement running on the west side of the property that will facilitate entry into the facility from Southmost Blvd. We will fence that end of the property nearest the school for the safety of the children. There is also ingress and egress from Lima Street on the project's east side."

The Southmost native said it was time that the burgeoning population of the area (estimated at some 40,000 to 50,000 residents) to have access to the services enjoyed by many other county cities with satellite offices. The city, for example, recently refurbished the Southmost Library and the county has the Pete Benavides Multi-Service Center on Browne Road. The city also operates a Brownsville Police Department community service center and municipal court near the project site next to the HEB.

Mail drop boxes – already available in other tax offices – are also in the plans.

"I'm very excited to be part of the effort with out city and BISD partners to bring services to this area," he said. "We are currently working on acquiring funding and estimate that it might take between $2.5 and $3 million to build it. It's been some almost 36 months since we first thought of this project, but it  will be worth the effort to bring services to this area which has been underserved for much too long."