CC regents table delinquent tax bid

Clarendon College Regents tabled approval of a bid on tax delinquent property during their regular meeting last week.

The board approved three other tax delinquent property bids as presented by the Donley Appraisal District, but some regents had questions about a bid for a 1999 Oakwood mobile home located on the north side of Clarendon.

Some board members noted that no minimum bid had been listed on their paperwork, and Regent Darlene Spier said she had called the appraisal district office to find out more about this property.

“Back taxes have not been paid for a long time,” Spier said. “The taxes owed are between $20,000 and $25,000 on the trailer.”

The bid on the trailer house is for $100.

Last month, the Clarendon City Council approved the bid in a split vote, 2-1, with two aldermen absent from that meeting.

Chief Appraiser Paula Lowrie has told the Enterprise that the appraisal district has been trying to address the back taxes on the mobile home for a long time. The appraisal district’s attorneys made several attempts over the years to collect taxes dating back to 2003 from owner Nancy Shapiro, but they were unsuccessful in serving her.

The home sits on land owned by Bryan Leeper, and Lowrie said it was only recently that his name was added to the mobile home.

Lowrie said the mobile home was put up in a sheriff’s sale last December but received no bids, making it the property of the local taxing entities. She said Bryan Leeper now wants it off his land said the district has advertised unsuccessfully trying to sell the home. The $100 bid for the home was from Leeper’s son, Tim Leeper.

Board chairman Jerry Woodard said he thought the appraisal district could have used other means to go after the taxes. Regents prepared a list of questions for the appraisal district and tabled action on the bid.

In other college business, Regents approved refinancing bonds with a balance of $1.3 million to take advantage of a drop in interest rate from 4.7 percent down to 2.42 percent. The refinance will short the payout of the bonds from seven years to six years and save the college about $300,000.

Woodard called the refinance “a no-brainer” and said paying that debt off sooner would free the college up to do other things on campus.

The college’s record setting fall enrollment was the subject of discussion in the President’s Report, and Dr. Robert Riza gave credit to his cabinet for their hard work, including Aaron Lopez, David Hall, Brandie Havens, Johnny Triechel, Will Thompson, Susan Russell, Becky Green, Robert Taylor, Brad Vanden Boogaard, Lana Ritchie, Tex Buckhaults, Roger Schustereit, and Ashlee Estlack.

The board approved a new contract with Great Western Dining to operate the college cafeteria and ratified the employment of James Ira Colley as the new custodian at the Pampa Center.

Regents were given copies of CC’s tax abatement criteria for review in anticipation of Cielo Wind Energy seeking an abatement for Phase 2 of a wind farm in the northwest part of the county. Construction on Phase 1 is expected to begin in 2016.