Morgan Wheatly

The services of the Burton Memorial Library were limited following action by the Clarendon City Council during its regular meeting July 27.

According to the city minutes, Sharon Henson Winfrey addressed the council and expressed her concern over declining movie rental sales due to the library checking out movies for free. Ms. Winfrey asked for the library to start charging for movies or to remove them all together. She said she does not believe she should have to be in competition with the city library.

Council members explained that the library belongs to the Harrington Library Consortium and movies are one of the services offered by all the libraries.

Aldermen approved a motion to limit the age of movies checked out at the Library for no charge to five years and older from their release date.

In other city business, Carol Holden reported on the remediation of code compliance issues for her property at 702 S. Carhart. She told Council that she was limited on funds and has tried to come down as often as she could to work on the property. Ms. Holden is trying to sell the property and said she would work on the property as often as she can. Mayor Sandy Skelton asked her to do her best to keep the property mowed.

Aldermen considered and approved an amendment to Ordinance #338 that establishes a non-resident rate for dumping limbs at the Citizens Convenience Center. The minimum charge for a non-resident will be $10, and a trailer load minimum will be $16.

A resolution was approved to engage Government Capital Securities Corp. as a financial advisor for the city.

The city council also approved a motion to claim a lien for reimbursement of costs and expenses incurred in abating the dangerous structure located at 512 S. Sully Street in the amount of $7,488.24

Aldermen discussed the tax rate for fiscal year 2018 and voted to approve the proposed effective tax rate of .733821 per $100 valuation with .278885 being debt rate and .454938 being maintenance and operation rate. The effective rate brings in the same money the city received in the preceding year.

Administrator David Dockery distributed the requested time line he received from Linda Lewis for compliance of the property located at 602 S. Bugbee Avenue.

Mayor Skelton distributed a letter from Walt Knorpp informing Council on how fortunate the residents of the City of Clarendon are to have David Dockery as our city administrator. It is Mr. Knorpp’s opinion that Mr. Dockery is the best administrator the city has ever employed.

Donley County Commissioners will delve into budget negotiations when they convene for their August session next Monday.

County Judge John Howard said the proposed budget posted on the county’s website will likely see some changes during Monday’s meeting, but the $2.6 million proposed budget does have several items the county will have to deal with.

Howard said the county will likely have to raise its tax rate even to stay at the effective rate. The rate would have to go up at least a penny in order to bring in the same revenue as the current year due to declining property valuations.

County officials are also mindful that “legislative hijinks at play in Austin” will likely make it difficult to raise taxes in the future, Howard said.

“The Legislature is diligently considering options to restrict local governments’ ability to raise taxes,” Howard said. “I hope the voters understand that we raise taxes only when necessary and not to feather our nests. The last time I looked, our nest was not particularly feathered. We have been frugal.”

Budget priorities for the county, Howard said, will include covering rising costs of employee health insurance, more help for the Precinct 1 and 2 Justice of the Peace due to heavier workload in that office, addressing facility needs of the Precinct 3 and 4 Justice of the Peace, and ongoing courthouse maintenance issues.

Howard said the county has money set aside to help address masonry and window repairs on the 1890 Courthouse, but more may be needed.

The proposed budget also seeks to give each employee a $100 per month raise, which will cost the county about $50,000.

“If you look, there are seven out of the last 20 years that county employees received no raises,” Howard said. “Eight of the last 20 they received a three percent raise.”

The county will continue to receive a grant to help pay for the highway safety officer program, amounting to $44,861.58. That covers 80 percent of the cost of employing and equipping the deputy patrolling the highway, Howard said.

Donley County will also begin to reap payments from the Salt Fork wind farm during this fiscal year, but Howard said county officials have not included that in the proposed budget, preferring instead to get that money in hand before obligating any of it.

Tax hearings for the county will be held on August 23 and September 5. A county budget hearing will be held  during the commissioners’ regular meeting September 11.

A new generation will celebrate the new direction it has given to one of Clarendon’s oldest businesses when Saye’s holds its open house this Saturday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Katie and Josh Fetsch and Savannah Askew, with their kids in tow, are the latest members to operate the family store started by T.M. Little in 1910. The business, now branded as Saye’s Tack Store, carries all types of merchandise that a cowboy needs – ropes, grooming supplies, horse shoeing tools, cinches, blankets, pads, leather goods, and more.

“It’s pretty special,” said Katie, who represents the fifth generation to run the business. “I feel like our family is really close, and it’s nice to continue something that has been in the family and give it new life.”

What began as Little Mercantile Co. has changed its offerings to adapt to changing times and the needs of each era. Mr. Little’s daughter Emma May introduced a beauty salon – possibly the first in Clarendon – to the business early in its history. She married Carl Saye; and during the Depression, the store moved from its original home, where the Cowboy Church is today, to its present location at 219 S. Kearney between the Burton Memorial Library and Henson’s. At that time, the name was changed to Saye’s Clothing Store, and the business became so varied and carried such a stock, that it operated in its current location as well as occupying the two buildings that make up the city library today.

Another generational change came when Emma and Carl’s son, Tommie Saye, added a photography studio to the business.

Katie’s father, Danny Askew, says the store made an impression on him the first time he came in as a college student in 1974.

“I remember well Tom and his momma following me around like a pair of hunting dogs,” Danny said. “It occupied all three buildings, and you weren’t leaving without buying something.”

After the death of his parents in the early 1970s, Tommie and his wife, Lucy, continued to operate the business but downsized by the end of that decade, selling the north two buildings to the city. The couple eventually shifted the merchandise more towards Western wear, a trend that was continued by their daughter Terry Askew, who took over the business in 1994.

“Each generation changed it a little to fit their time,” Lucy says.

Terry kept the store open regularly through 2010 before going to work full time at the Best Western Red River Inn. It was still opened though for holidays and special occasions.

“If you consider that T.M.’s mother was with him when he started the store, then we’ve had seven generations walking those floors,” Terry said. “I just love it. I couldn’t be happier that this generation is making it their own.”

Lucy also said that it’s amazing to have this many generations keeping a business going, and she loves how Katie, Josh, and Savannah have repurposed Mr. Little’s original fixtures.

“It’s really great even though it’s completely different,” Lucy said. “The hangers that used to hold dresses now have belts and lariats. And it’s just part of the family history that your children grow up in that store.”

The tack idea for the business really came about last fall, Katie said. Now Flying A Tack is the family wholesale business that travels to Texas, New Mexico, and Oklahoma to service retailers and trade shows. Saye’s is the local storefront for that service.

“There are a lot of people who need these items,” Katie said. “Our local cowboys are awesome, and we love the cowboy community.”

The family invites everyone to Saye’s open house. Activities will include a roping dummy completion, and St. Mary’s Catholic Church will be providing concessions. For information, see their ad in this week’s issue.

Licensed To Carry (LTC) holders can now legally carry their weapons on the campus of Clarendon College and other community colleges around the state, but the rules for following that law are not simple.

Clarendon College Regents studied the first draft a proposed concealed carry policy during a called meeting Monday, July 31, as the institution prepared for Senate Bill 11 to become the law of the land August 1.

CC President Robert Riza said previously there was basically a “no guns on campus” policy, but that changed this week. LTC holders are about six percent of the Texas population, and the open carrying of weapons is still prohibited on the campus.

Under the new concealed carry policy the room where the Board of Regents meets would be exempt from weapons carriers. Welding classrooms and science labs would also be exempted. Any place where a dual credit class takes place (which could have students under the age of 18) would be exempt for the time period of that dual credit class. Areas hosting sporting events and UIL events would be exempt during the time of the event.

The locations of disciplinary hearings and election polling would be exempt during those activities.

The college must also post signs designating gun free zones, and additional signs will have to be put up and taken down as different events or activities are taking place on campus.

“In the year that concealed carry has been the law for universities, there has been only one case of an accidental discharge,” Dr. Riza said. “Most of our students are under the age of 21, and you have to be 21 to get your LTC.”

The college’s concealed carry policy is still under review. The draft will be available on the CC website and will also be given to local law enforcement, college employees, and students for review.

Property values in Donley County have dropped for most taxing entities, which may cause some concerns for local boards that are busy working on new budgets for fiscal year 2018.

Paula Lowrie, Chief Appraiser of the Donley Appraisal District, said Tuesday that the City of Hedley and the east side of the county were reappraised this year and that area was largely where appraised values fell.

Public notices have begun appearing in the Enterprise this week as local entities begin the process of establishing tax rates for the new year.

The most significant difference this year was the appraised values for the Panhandle Groundwater District, which saw an increase of $147 million for a total appraisal of $372,279,516. The difference is in the wind farm, which received tax agreements from other taxing entities to make payments in lieu of taxes for certain periods of time.

The City of Clarendon saw its values go up slightly this year. The city has total property taxable values of $59,513,477 this year, reflecting a gain of more than $187,050.

Donley County’s values for ad valorem taxes are down more than $2 million at $236,503,813. 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.

The Clarendon College District has countywide taxable values of $221,999,746, an decrease of more than $2.5 million. The college also benefits from maintenance taxes in Childress and Gray counties.

The Donley County Hospital District’s values this year have decreased about $2.1 million for a total tax base of $206,658,376. 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 $135,966,170 on properties within its boundaries in Donley County. That’s up more than $4.2 million from last year’s value. But it’s still significantly below the figure from three years ago, which was $147,805,132. The big loss came when Texas voters in 2015 approved an increase in the homestead exemption from $15,000 to $25,000.

The Hedley school district has seen its tax base in Donley County decrease just over $1 million with total values of $48,714,413.

Taxable values for the City of Howardwick are almost even at $15,005,650; and the City of Hedley has seen its values decrease about $150,000 for a total tax base of $6,686,672.

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.

Lowrie said Howardwick and the western third of the county will be reappraised in 2018 followed by the City of Clarendon in 2019.

The Clarendon College Board of Regents voted to propose raising ad valorem taxes by 7.99 percent during a called meeting on Monday, July 31.

The rate of $0.251149 per $100 valuation would generate an estimated $529,672.63 from local taxpayers or about $43,000 more than the current tax rate of $0.230677.

The board considered the rate in light of efforts in the Texas Legislature’s current session, where some state leaders are seeking to limit local governments’ ability to raise property taxes to only four percent.

CC President Robert Riza recommended adopting the 7.99 percent increase.

“With a 3.99 percent cap, we’ll almost have to do that every year because if you got behind, you’d never catch up,” Dr. Riza said.

If the board approves the rate later this month, the average homeowner in Donley County would see their taxes increase about $6, college officials said. The taxes on a $100,000 home would go up less than $20.

Regents were also mindful that large landowners and businesses with lots of equipment would see larger increases. The board also considered that other taxing entities may not increase their rates this year.

Board members discussed the need to keep close watch on the college budget to make sure every tax dollar is well spent.

The board also discussed the college’s role as one of the county’s largest employers and the economic impact the college has on the county and the region.

Clarendon College currently operates with a $9.3 million budget, most of which is paid for with state appropriations and revenue from its students.

Public hearings on the tax rate will be held on August 10 and 17 at 8 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. respectively.