Hidalgo County voters to choose appraisal district board members

EDINBURG — Voters in Hidalgo County have a chance to cast their ballots in a first-of-its-kind election — one that candidates hope will give people a voice in how they are taxed.

The election, currently underway now, will allow voters to fill three seats on the Hidalgo County Appraisal District’s Board of Directors for the first time since state lawmakers drafted the laws that allowed property appraisal districts to be established in 1981.

Since then, taxing authorities — such as municipalities and school districts — have been the ones to decide who sits on an appraisal district’s board of directors.

But that’s all changing thanks to Texas Senate Bill 2, which passed with bipartisan, bicameral support during the second special session of the 88th Legislature last July.

With the bill’s passage, counties with a population of more than 75,000 people are now mandated to expand their appraisal district boards of directors to a total of nine members, according to an explainer on the Texas Secretary of State’s website.

Five of those members will continue to be appointed through the decisions of the taxing authorities within their jurisdictions.

Meanwhile, the chief appraiser will serve as a non-voting member of the board.

The remaining three seats on the board must be decided by county voters.

The appraisal district board of directors has limited power.

The board does not set property appraisal values — the chief appraiser does that.

Nor does the appraisal board set the ad valorem tax rate — each individual taxing authority does that, from cities, to the county, to school districts and even utility districts.

The board of directors doesn’t handle property appraisal protests, either. That function is carried out by a separate entity — the appraisal review board, or ARB.

One of the new powers the board of directors will have, however, is to decide who sits on the ARB.

Seven people are seeking office.

Running for Place 1 are Erica E. Canales and Patricio Eronini.

Canales, 43, of Edinburg, is a property developer who develops residential and commercial real estate across the county.

Eronini, 63, of Edinburg, has previously served as the chair of the Hidalgo County Democratic Party and works as a nurse practitioner.

Running for Place 2 are Veronica “Ronnie” Ontiveros, 43, of McAllen, and Paul Vazaldua Jr., 55, of McAllen.

Ontiveros serves as the president and CEO of Med-Care EMS, a private ambulance company that contracts with several municipalities across the county.

Vazaldua said he has previous professional experiences as a town administrator for small municipalities like La Villa and Elsa.

Place 3 candidates include Jane Cross, 67, of Edinburg, Karina Cardoza, 45, of McAllen, and Pedro “Pete” Garcia, 65, of San Juan.

Cardoza is a former Hidalgo County employee who worked in the public relations department.

Garcia is is a retired meat salesman who managed accounts from Laredo to Brownsville.

He previously served for six years on the appraisal district board of directors during the mid-2000s, he said.

Election Day is May 4.

Editor’s note: This story was updated to correct Cardoza’s age.