Archives for July 2016

Property values in Donley County have risen in general, bringing good news to most taxing entities that are busy working on new budgets for fiscal year 2017.
Paula Lowrie, Chief Appraiser of the Donley Appraisal District, said Monday that most entities and all county-wide entities have seen moderate increases in values this year, thanks to values of property owned by utilities.
Public notices will begin appearing in the Enterprise next week as local entities begin the process of establishing tax rates for the new year.
The City of Clarendon is the only entity to see its total appraisals go down this year. The city has total property taxable values of $59,326,427 this year, reflecting a loss of more than $990,000.
Lowrie said each property in Clarendon was reappraised this year, and some went categories went up but others went down.
“The main differences were a decrease in value for single-family homes of $730,713 and in commercial buildings of $636,207,” Lowrie said.
Donley County’s values for ad valorem taxes are up nearly $10.3 million at $238,570,958. The county’s total taxable value is higher than other countywide entities because it is able to tax certain rolling railroad stock that other local governments cannot, Lowrie said.
The Clarendon College District and the Panhandle Groundwater Conservation District has countywide taxable values of $224,502,215, an increase of more than $8 million. The college also benefits from maintenance taxes in Childress and Gray counties. Values in Childress are expected to remain about even, officials say, but values in Gray County have taken a significant hit with the decline of the petroleum industry.
The Donley County Hospital District’s values this year have increased about $7.8 million for a total tax base of $208,786.880. The hospital district, which provides emergency medical services and indigent care, has lower taxable values than other countywide entities because it does not tax personal property, such as cars, trucks, and boats.
The Clarendon Consolidated Independent School District has taxable values of nearly $131,698,299 on properties within its boundaries in Donley County. That’s up more than $4.5 million from last year’s value of $127,131,281. But it’s still significantly below the figure from two years ago, which was $147,805,132. The big loss came when Texas voters approved an increase in the homestead exemption from $15,000 to $25,000 in 2015.
The Hedley school district has seen its tax base in Donley County increase just under $3.8 million with total values of $49,747,759.
Taxable values for the City of Howardwick are up $828,698 at $15,157,768; and the City of Hedley has seen its values increase $219,708 for a total tax base of $6,722,445.
Once an entity has its taxable value, it can generally figure its tax levy by dividing the number by $100 and multiplying the result by a tax rate ($1.17 in the case of Clarendon ISD, for example).
However, those numbers get complicated for Clarendon and Hedley schools, the cities of Clarendon and Hedley, Donley County, and the Clarendon College District where people over the age of 65 and those who are disabled have their taxes frozen at differing levels, requiring additional calculations.

Clarendon College Regents held their first ever meeting in Childress last Thursday, July 21, as CC continues to expand its presence in that community.
The college has offered classes in Childress for many years, and voters approved a five-cent maintenance tax there in 2008. Since that time, the college has offered more technical and traditional classes in that community, and recently CC has embarked on new partnerships in Childress, particularly in the health care industry, under President Robert Riza.
Regents met at the Childress Regional Medical Center and were joined by several local dignitaries, including hospital administrator John Henderson, Childress County Judge Jay Mayden, Childress ISD representative Sarah Mills, Red River Sun publisher Chris Blackburn, and Jennifer Foster representing the local office of State Sen. Charles Perry.
During the meeting, Mayden expressed his appreciation for what Clarendon College and Dr. Riza are doing for the people of his community.
In addition to touring the facilities at the CC Childress Center and the new nursing program classroom at the medical center, Regents worked their way through a short agenda of business items.
The board approved a new five-year contract extension with Great Western Dining, which give the college $20,000 for equipment upgrades. Great Western services several small colleges and has a longstanding relationship with Clarendon.
“We’re very pleased with the company,” Riza told the Enterprise. “They support community colleges.”
Regents also approved a letter of engagement with CMMS for the college’s annual audit.
Under personnel, the board ratified the hiring of Garner Small as assistant men’s basketball coach and Raylynn Cruz as a cosmetology instructor; acknowledged the resignations of Associate Dean of Career, Technical & Continuing Education David Hall, Vocation Nursing Program Director Daniel Trejo, Daniel Tharp, and Derrick Harwood; and acknowledged the retirement of Kathy Shields. Also approved were the reassignments of Aaron Lopez, who will oversee correctional education programs, and Dr. Cathy Rosser, who becomes the Interim Director of Allied Health.
In his president’s report, Dr. Riza discussed meeting with officials of the Jordan and Roach correctional units to continue working to offer federal Second Chance Pell Grants to qualified individuals. Riza  also discussed the possibility of Clarendon offering courses to meet training needs for local and area law enforcement and corrections officers.

Saints’ Roost Museum has opened its newest exhibit, “The Life and Times of Texas Icon Charles Goodnight,” by artist Lee Cable, leading up to the Col. Charles Goodnight Chuckwagon Cookoff on Saturday, September 24, 2016.
Cable, who lives in Colorado, has been commissioned to portray the life of pioneer rancher Charles Goodnight. This exhibition is the first stage of that series, which includes some of the events and highlights of Goodnight’s life.
The exhibition is made possible by businessman James E. Sparkman of Houston, who owns this collection and wished to share these paintings with visitors to Texas museums.
An artist since the age of nine, Lee Cable has drawn inspiration for his subjects from Maine to Florida and California to Washington state.  But his artist’s heart belongs to Colorado and the magnificent Rocky Mountains where he and his wife, Pam, enjoy the cowboy way of life.
Cable’s love of the West, ranch life, and horses has been the subject of his work for the last 15 years, building upon a very successful career as a wildlife artist.
Cable has been a world finalist numerous times in the equestrian sport of Cowboy Mounted Shooting, traveling over the country with paint, brushes, and horses in tow.
Exhibiting throughout the United States and Canada, Lee has garnered numerous awards and high acclaim.  Hhe was Featured Artist at the Western Heritage Art Show, Mont.; Southeastern Wildlife Expo, South Carolina; Original Art Showcase, Ontario, Canada; Tropics Alive Art Show, Florida; Pacific Rim Wildlife Expo, Wash.; Oklahoma Wildlife Art Show, and Germanton Art Show, North Carolina.
To share what he has learned with others, Cable is an instructor for the Susan Kathleen Black Foundation whose mission is art education.
Donley County residents and all visitors are invited to view “The Life and Times of Texas Icon Charles Goodnight” during August and September.  Saints’ Roost Museum hours of operation are Tuesday-Saturday, 10:00 a.m.- 5:00 p.m.

The Clarendon Enterprise received two first place honors in the West Texas Press Association’s 2015 Better Newspaper Contest last Saturday, July 23.
Results of the contest were announced during the WTPA’s 86th annual convention in San Angelo.
The Enterprise won first place in Advertising with display ads designed by Morgan Wheatly for the paper’s 2015 StayCation promotion and by Roger Estlack for Ladies’ Night promotion for Cornell’s Country Store. The paper also received a first place plaque for its 2015 Fall/Winter Welcome Guide.
Estlack received second place honors for Editorials on local business and the challenge of raising money for a local water recreation facility. Estlack also received honorable mention for Columns on Alan Bean and Blue Bell ice cream.
The Enterprise received third place honors for Photography for entries by Morgan Wheatly and Matthew Martinez, both of which featured the Mulkey Theatre.
The Enterprise competed in Division D for small weeklies.
Attending the convention and accepting the awards on the Enterprise’s behalf were Roger, Benjamin, and Ella Estlack. Ben and Ella were also honored at the convention for being the youngest journalists in the WTPA.
The WTPA was led this year by President Randy Mankin of The Eldorado Success, who is being succeed by his son, J.L. Mankin of The Big Lake Wildcat.

The City of Clarendon began talks last week about transferring its ownership in two local ballparks to the public school.
The topic was first discussed publicly at the July 12 meeting of the Clarendon ISD Board of Trustees and was also discussed at the city council meeting last Thursday, July 14.
Currently, McClellan Field is used by the varsity Broncos but is owned by the city. Meanwhile, the Lady Broncos softball field is on property that is owned half by the school and half by the city. Hart-Moore Field, which is used by local little league teams, is owned by the school.
City Administrator David Dockery and CISD Superintendent Mike Norrell say water is the driving issue that has opened the discussions between the two entities.
As part of the conditions of the USDA funding the city is receiving for its upcoming $4 million water system improvements, all water usage in the city must be metered and paid for. City Hall, Prospect Park, and other city facilities will have to have metered watered services for the first time, and those services will have to be paid for.
As city facilities currently, the water use on the ball fields is not metered.
Neither the city aldermen nor the school trustees took any action last week pending more information being gathered about that subject.
In other city business, Sara SoRelle addressed the council in public comments regarding fireworks being set off in the city during the Fourth of July. She said she called the sheriff’s office but that no deputy showed up. She also said that animals and some people are agitated by loud fireworks. She asked the council to increase the fine for setting off fireworks in the city limits to $2,000.
The council discussed a request from Meals on Wheels for funding from the Community Programs line item and approved $1,000 for that program.
In his administrator’s report, Dockery said the water looping project has been tied in at Carhart Street and about 1,000 feet of lines remain to be installed. Preliminary designs have been received for the USDA-funded water project and will now be finalized. Also, the city has some concrete work to do at the low-water crossing on Front Street to finalize its in-kind contribution for the 2001 TxDOT bridge replacement grant, and proposals will be taken soon on that work.
The board approved accepting the parks master plan and approved a resolution adopting open space master plan.
Aldermen also approved a resolution authorizing the city to apply for a Community Development Block Grant for $250,000 in sewer system improvements with a $41,250 match.
City officials feel there is little chance the grant will be awarded because the city has not raised sewer rates and has not raised taxes over the effective rate recently, both of which will negatively impact the Clarendon’s score on the grant application.