Archives for October 2002

Senator Craig Estes (R-Wichita Falls) announced Tuesday afternoon that Donley County has been awarded an additional $185,000 from the Texas Historical Commission (THC) to help complete the restoration of the 1890 Courthouse.

Local officials are pleased with the new award and say it may be able to use the money to reduce some of the county’s debt burden on the project.

“We’re planning to go back and review our finances and see where we stand,” said County Judge Jack Hall. “It is possible that this additional money could be used for debt reduction.”

The county’s restoration project hit a roadblock earlier this spring when it was discovered that 110-year-old bricks concealed behind a metal cornice had deteriorated beyond ordinary repair. The supplemental THC grant will go toward the expense of rebuilding that area.

“I know that Donley County is extremely grateful for this supplemental THC assistance,” Sen. Estes said. “This funding will allow the county to properly complete the restoration of this remarkable, distinguished courthouse so that it will be able to stand and serve the public for yet another 110 years.”

Donley County had requested additional funds from the THC two months ago to help with the unforeseen expense of the brick repair.

“The THC sent notice in August saying that it was making $200,000 available in supplemental funding,” said grant administrator John Kiehl with the Panhandle Regional Planning Commission. “We requested $165,000, which would have covered about 60 percent of what the brick repairs would be.”

With only $200,000 available, county officials privately hoped they would get at least $40,000. There was no guarantee the county would receive anything, and so the county issued another $350,000 in tax notes to finish the project.

“The project was about to come to a standstill (in September), which necessitated issuing additional tax notes,” Kiehl said.

But the THC surprised county officials and awarded more than they requested.

“Once we got the letters and saw how much was needed, we increased the funding,” said the THC’s Stan Graves. “We awarded $746,443 in supplemental funds.”

Donley County’s award of $185,000 was the second highest of the five counties which were funded. Red River County was the highest, receiving $374,443.

“If we knew then what we know now, the county would not have had to borrow that much money,” Kiehl said. “There is nothing to prevent the county from paying that money back early.”

Kiehl said the county intends to refinance the entire project in one year. Paying back early a substantial part of what was borrowed will help reduce the county’s annual payments.

The new supplemental grant requires a 15 percent match, but county officials say they already have that covered with donations from successful fundraising over the last year.

The new award brings the amount of state funds contributed to the project to a total of $3.13 million. Donations to the project as of Tuesday amounted to $145,294; and everything donated since April 12 goes toward a matching grant, which brings the total to $155,424. Other non-taxpayer money has come from the Courthouse Security Fund, which is generated by county fees and fines. Funds from that source in the amount of $52,800 have been used to pay for line items directly related to the security of the courthouse.

The total funds of the project not paid for by local tax dollars is $3.334 million. Tax notes to be paid for by local tax dollars currently amount to $900,000.

“This is really a sweet deal for Donley County,” Kiehl said. “Other counties are having to mortgage themselves for 20 years to fix their courthouses. Donley County will have theirs paid off within eight or nine years of the project completion, and that’s commendable.”

Kiehl said replacing the courthouse with another building of comparable size could not be done for $900,000 and any new building would not have the character of the 1890 structure.

“The county is going to have a really unique asset,” he said.

Donley County residents will go to the polls next Tuesday to cast ballots in contentious local races as well as voting for statewide offices.

The General Election will be held November 5, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Early voting by personal appearance continues through Friday, November 1, in the Courthouse Annex.

As of early Monday afternoon, 247 people had cast early or mail-in ballots, according to the Donley County Clerk’s office. That number is down considerably from the same point in the 2000 general election, in which 374 people had voted eight days before the election.

On the local level this year, incumbent Democrat Jack Hall is facing Republican challenger Jimmy Thompson for the office of County Judge. Incumbent County Treasurer Becky Jackson, a Republican, goes up against Democrat Vicki Sloan, and incumbent Democrat Fay Vargas squares off against Republican Vicki Knowles for County & District Clerk.

Precinct 4 voters also have the choice between incumbent Bob Trout, a Democrat, and challenger Wayne Riggs for the office of county commissioner.

Local officials running unopposed for re-election this year are Precinct 1&2 Justice of the Peace Jimmy Johnson (R), Precinct 3&4 Justice of the Peace Ann Kennedy (D), and Precinct 2 Commissioner Don Hall (R).

Also of interest to local voters is a proposed state constitutional amendment regarding county constables. HJR 2 would amend the constitution to allow the commissioners’ court of a county to declare the office of constable dormant if that office has been vacant for at least seven consecutive years. If declared vacant under the proposed law, a dormant office could only be reactivated by the commissioners’ court or by a vote of the people of the county.

Donley and other counties have been in legal battles in recent years over the issue of constables.

Polling places for this year’s General Election are as follows: Box 101 – Clarendon College Bairfield Activity Center, Box 102 – Howardwick City Hall, Box 103 – Martin Baptist Church Fellowship Hall, Box 201 – Clarendon Lions Club, Box 301 – Clarendon Community Center – Rodeo Grounds, Box 302 – Paymaster Gin – Lelia Lake, Box 303 – Hedley Lions Club, Box 401 – Community Bank, and Box 402 – McClellan House. Check your voter’s registration card to see which precinct box you should vote in.

Complete results will be printed in next week’s Enterprise. A sample ballot and candidate profiles are being published in this week’s paper.

Shopping at home for the holidays is easy and affordable as local banks have again teamed up to provide 0% interest “Christmas Cash” loans this year.

Interested parties must make application for a loan up to $3,000 with any of the participating banks.  Once a Christmas Cash loan has been approved, the borrower will be issued specially printed Christmas Cash Dollars, which may be spent like US currency toward new purchases of products and services (excluding Lottery tickets, gasoline, and tobacco products) at all of the participating businesses.  Businesses display posters indicating they are participants of the promotion. 

There will be no exchange of U.S. currency to make change.  For example, if someone purchases items valued at $72.95 and gives the merchant $80.00 in Christmas Cash, the merchant can give them $7.05 in-store credit.  The customer may also pay $70.00 in Christmas Cash and the remaining $2.95 in US currency. 

Christmas Cash Dollars are available in three denominations: $10, $20, and $50.  There are two signature lines, the same as there are on traveler’s checks. 

The borrower’s signature is placed on the signature line before they leave the bank, and then they must sign on the endorsement line when they spend the “Cash.” 

Christmas Cash must be spent at the participating merchants by December 31, 2002.  Unspent Christmas Cash may be applied toward your 0% loan at the bank through January 7, 2003. 

This cash may not be used as a regular monthly loan payment.  It can only be applied toward the principal amount due at the end of the Christmas Cash note. Christmas Cash notes are paid back in ten equal monthly installments.  After January 7, 2003, Christmas Cash becomes worthless. 

It’s amazing the variety of products Christmas Cash can purchase.  Some of the items purchased in years past include: replacement windows, vehicle repairs, groceries, furniture, entertainment equipment, cook-tops, dry cleaning for summer bedrolls, catered goodies, Christmas dinner, car stereos, special gift items, centerpieces, clothing, and much more. 

The Donley County State Bank, The Herring National Bank, and Community Bank will buy Christmas Cash from participating merchants at a rate of 95¢ for every $1.00.  Participating businesses are “interested in keeping your business here in Clarendon.”

This year’s participating merchants are: Amigo’s Mexican Restauranté, B&R Thriftway, The Clarendon Enterprise, Clarendon Outpost, Clarendon Veterinary Hospital & Supply, Cornell’s Country Store, Country Bloomers Flowers & Gifts, Duckwall’s, Eads Furniture & Appliance, Every Nook & Cranny, Floyd’s Motor Company & Body Shop, Greenbelt Cleaners, Guys & Dolls Salon, Henson’s, Hitchin’ Post, J&W Lumber, Kidd’s Texaco & Clarendon Auto Supply, Mike’s Pharmacy, Naturally Texas Ts, Poor Boys Antiques, Saye’s, Suna AutoMall, Thompson Upholstery, and White’s Feed & Seed.

This is the eighth year banks have participated in the Christmas Cash program. The idea of 0% loans up to $3,000 began in 1995 through the cooperation of the Clarendon Chamber of Commerce, the Clarendon Merchants Association, and local banks.

Hedley High School sent ten students to the Lubbock Coronado Math/Science Invitational meet on October 26, bringing back two trophies and a host of medals.

Both the math and science teams placed second out of 12 strong 1A, 2A, and 3A schools, with the Calculator Applications team finishing third and the Number Sense team coming in fourth.

Schools like Seminole and Plains, with long histories of excellence in math and science competitions, were there along with Idalou, Slaton, Shallowater, Floydada, Lockney, and others.

Hedley, the smallest school at the competition, came in third in the Sweepstakes competition, a “tremendous placing” according to science teacher Bruce Howard.

Individual medallists included Stephen Howard – first in Mathematics and second in Number Sense; Treva Rowland – first in Science; Lacey Wallendorff, second in Science and second in Mathematics; Lauren Hill, third in Calculator Applications and third in Mathematics; Rope Copelin, third in Science; and Travis Hrbacek, second in freshman Science.

Others who won points for Hedley included Allison Hill, Lisle Rowland, and Brittney Bennett.

The Sweepstakes finish was Hedley’s highest ever at a large meet, and the future looks bright with hard-working students in each grade level.

The group consisted of two freshmen, three sophomores, three juniors, and two seniors.

Hedley will continue to prepare for spring district and regional competitions by participating in the coming months in the Texas Shootout competition, where school receive, administer, and grade practice tests, then post results on the Internet for comparison with over 1,800 students from around the state.

A petition being circulated to roll back Donley County property taxes is not valid, according to local officials, because the commissioners’ court did not exceed the rollback rate under the law.

The petition, which was reported to have more than 500 signatures Monday, seeks to force the county to hold an election to allow citizens to vote on the tax increase which went into effect in October.

“We think the taxes went up over 30 percent, and we think we ought to have the right to vote on it,” said petition organizer Don Smith.

But the county says the rollback petition is not going to have any bearing on the current tax rate.

 “Under the tax code, a petition is only valid if the rollback rate is lower than the adopted rate,” County Attorney Pro Tem Kaye Messer said. “The bottom line is that the petition is invalid.”

County commissioners adopted a total tax rate last month of 0.476547 per $100 valuation, an increase of 27.78 percent over last year’s total rate. But despite the increase, officials say the rate is still lower than it could have been since the rollback rate was 0.494254.

When shown a copy of an August 22 notice published in The Clarendon Enterprise and excerpts of the state tax code, Smith said that he and his committee would need to review the information but that he thought the petition was still valid.

“I think by what we read and what our attorney advised us, this [the petition] is what we have to do,” Smith said.

Paula Lowrie, Chief Appraiser of the Donley Appraisal District, says the county tax rate is composed of three elements this year: the General Fund rate, the Farm to Market (or Road & Bridge) rate, and the Debt Component rate. The debt rate is where most of this year’s tax increase comes from, and that is where the controversy is.

Increases in the General Fund and Road & Bridge rates can only be raised eight percent without being challenged by a petition. But the Debt Component rate is limited only by the amount of debt service the county has for that year, Lowrie said.

This year, the county adopted a Debt Component rate of 0.9745 per $100 valuation to make its payments on the tax notes funding the county’s share of the courthouse restoration.

“The only remedy for stopping the debt rate would have been to seek an injunction in district court,” Messer said. “That had to have been done between August 22 (when the county first published the proposed debt rate) and October 1 (when the tax bills were mailed). That was the only remedy, and the time has passed.”

Lowrie agrees with the Messer that it is too late to stop the debt rate.

“We’ve already been through the process to set the rate,” she said. “All the notices were published timely and correctly.”

Smith, whose committee was still gathering signatures at press time, says even if the petition is invalid, it still proves a point and could impact the upcoming elections.

“This really shows a lot of people are upset,” he said.

County Judge Jack Hall said he believes politics is the motivation behind the petition drive.

“The people behind the petition are dwelling a lot on the fact that they never got a chance to vote on the courthouse tax notes [in 2000],” Hall said. “But it was all done properly.”

A special debt tax rate has been used before by local entities. The appraisal district says the Hedley school is using it to pay for their current bonds, the Donley County Hospital District had a debt rate for years, the Clarendon school has used it in the past, and even Donley County used a debt component rate to pay for bonds to build a new jail 20 years ago.

The legal battle between Donley County and former constable Jimmy Swinney may be at an end following the action of the Seventh Court of Appeals in Amarillo last week.

The court dismissed Swinney’s appeal and let stand the January ruling of District Judge David McCoy, who had ruled in the county’s favor and said county commissioners had not abused their discretion when they set Swinney’s salary at $3,170 in December 2000.

County Attorney Pro Tem Kaye Messer says Swinney now has the opportunity to ask McCoy to review the case again, but she doesn’t think it will help him.

“I can’t imagine that Judge McCoy is going to change his ruling,” Messer said.

But the former constable’s lawyer may have a different view. Quoted in an article in the Amarillo Globe-News, Canyon attorney Chuck Hester said McCoy “will make additional rulings and findings and then [the case] will probably be up on appeal if the findings are adverse to Swinney.”

Messer, however, thinks county officials have the case behind them now.

“From a legal stand point, Swinney may still have a ray of hope, but from a practical standpoint, I think it’s over,” she said.

County Judge Jack Hall was pleased the with the appeals court’s ruling.

“I’m proud they dismissed the case,” Hall said. “And I’m proud of the work Kaye has done for Donley County.”

The restoration of the Donley County Courthouse and a petition to roll back local property taxes were topics for discussion when the Howardwick Friendship Club hosted a “Meet The Candidates Night” last Friday.

Five candidates for county offices were present for the forum, and each was given a turn to talk to potential voters.

County Judge Jack Hall outlined the duties of his job and discussed his qualifications before discussing the rollback petition. He held up a chart showing the rollback rate of 0.494254 and the county’s adopted rate of 0.476549.

“The tax rate is not above the rollback rate,” Hall said.

Hall said he stands on two platforms in his bid for re-election – opposition to former constable Jimmy Swinney’s case against the county and support for the restoration of the 1890 courthouse.

“I am for this courthouse,” Hall said. “It is a treasure. It is one of a kind. It houses our history, and it belongs to you and all the people of Donley County. I am for the nearly $3 million we got from the state.”

Hall also said he didn’t need someone to talk for him, and he asked people to look at their own consciences and cast their vote.

Jimmy Thompson, who is running against Hall, spoke next and talked of his background being raised in the county and serving as its sheriff for 20 years.

“I understand the people and understand that people are on a fixed income,” Thompson said. “I don’t know all the answers, but I’ll find out.”

Thompson said he differed with Hall on the rollback issue and said he supports it.

“I think the rollback is right,” he said. “If I didn’t think it was right, it wouldn’t have been done.”

Treasurer Becky Jackson discussed the duties of her job and asked for support.

“I feel I’ve done a good job and ask you to vote for that time and experience in order to save the county time and money,” she said.

Jackson’s opponent, Vicki Sloan, said she had made a lot of friends during her campaign and promised to serve the people.

“If elected, I will serve with dignity and humility,” she said.

Candidate for County/District Clerk, Vicki Knowles, said she was having fun campaigning and encouraged everyone to get out and vote.

After the candidates’ forum, rollback petition organizer Don Smith was allowed to speak.

“All we’re saying is you should have the right to vote when taxes go up that much,” Smith said.

Howardwick Mayor Billy Woods asked Smith what he thought of the sheriff’s department.

“I think the sheriff’s department is fine, but that’s not what this is about,” Smith said.

“Oh, yes, it is,” Woods retorted. “I think without the tax increase, half the sheriff’s department would be gone,” Woods said, referring to the battle to raise deputies’ salaries earlier this year.

“We’re not saying anything about the sheriff’s office,” Smith said. “This has nothing to do with that.”

“But you’re not giving all the pros and cons,” Woods said.

Clarendon College students are now under the protection of the Donley County Sheriff’s Department after the county approved a contract between the two entities last week.

Under the terms of the contract, Clarendon College will pay the sheriff’s department $20,000 per year to provide campus security. In turn, the sheriff’s office will patrol the campus, check the doors of the buildings three or four times each night, and provide security during basketball games.

Officers will also be issuing parking tickets on the college campus, and all Class C misdemeanor citations issued to college students on the campus will be handled through college court.

“I think it’s a win-win situation,” said Sheriff Butch Blackburn. “Before, they were paying more than this to have a security guard, and we had to handle all their criminal cases. This will work for them, and the money will go into our overtime budget.”

CC President Myles Shelton likes the contract also.

“It provides an added measure of security for our students, and I’m looking forward to working with the sheriff’s office,” he said.

The contract took effect on October 15.