San Marcos council to hear update on new city hall project

The project’s Steering Committee received a project update that included conceptual designs for a relocated facility in the city’s downtown area. The proposed site is located at the corner of Hopkins Street and CM Allen Parkway and not currently owned by the city, according to agenda documents.

The new city hall would be better suited to serving the city’s expanded population, roughly 90,000 residents. To accommodate the city’s project growth over the next 30 to 40 years, the new facility would need 109,000 square feet of office and public meeting space and 360 parking lots, according to the website.

The city hall would house offices not present in the current location, including:

• Council member offices
• Parks and recreation administration
• Destination services
• Emergency management
• Police substation
• Utility billing
• Community room
• Public gathering space
• Modern technology and security updates

City staff projects that the development of the new city hall and associated parking will cost between $80 million and $100 million. The City Council and Steering Committee do not wish to fund the project through a tax rate increase, according to agenda documents.

So far, the council has set aside approximately $13 million for the project. City staff is evaluating other funding options for the project, including:

• Approximately $4 million from the Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone No. 5 reserve fund
• Approximately $1.4 million each year from Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone No. 5 revenues
• Excess fund balance
• City real estate sale or lease
• Interdepartmental transfers
• Current cash reserves

City staff will provide the council an update on the Hopkins City Center/New City Hall project at a work session on June 16. The session will be held at the city hall beginning at 3 p.m. and streamed on the city’s website.