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The Clarendon City Council focused attention on streets in the southeast part of town during their regular meeting January 12 as preliminary plans were made for the next paving project.

City Administrator David Dockery said the streets prioritized for improvement are all east of State Highway 70 South and include Third, Fourth, Montgomery, Barcus, Davis, Hartzell, and Wells. The city is asking OJD Engineering perform on cost analysis on those specific blocks to determine what improvements can be made for a maximum of $500,000.

Dockery said the city has that much money on hand through COVID relief funds and through capital improvement funds.

Figuring out how to deal with water drainage in that area will be a challenge, Dockery said, and so engineers will start with a boundary and topographic study of the area in order to address significant erosion issues on the streets in question.

The council’s discussion on future street improvements came after aldermen took no action on proposals for broadband infrastructure improvements. COVID relief money can be spent on broadband improvements, but Dockery said the council wants to see what the state government will do about connectivity issues in the near future.

Last week, the Texas Comptroller’s office released a map showing Donley County as an underserved area for broadband internet service. The map will reportedly help guide the state’s broadband development efforts.

In other city business, the council reviewed applications from candidate for city administrator to replace Dockery, who plans to retire this spring. Interviews of potential candidates are scheduled for January 25 at the Bairfield Activity Center starting at 1 p.m.

The city also contracted with PRPC for future grant applciations

The Hedley City Council accepted the resignation of City Secretary Kim Davis Gossman Thursday night, January 19, and Mayor Carrie Butler said an investigation is underway related to allegations of misappropriation of funds.

The action came at the end of the city’s regular meeting and after the council met in closed session for about ten minutes. Following the acceptance of Gossman’s resignation, the council then approved a motion for the city not to pursue charges against Gossman, and Butler stated that currently no funds are missing from the city.

Following the meeting, Butler said the council’s vote was intended to mean the city would not pursue legal action against Gossman, but she said the sheriff’s office may still pursue criminal charges with its investigation. The funds involved were payroll funds and contract labor funds, Butler said.

Butler said discrepancies were discovered during an audit of the city’s fiscal year 2022, and that Gossman had since returned money to the city. Butler declined to reveal the amount of money in question with the sheriff’s department’s investigation still underway. She also said she is conducting an internal audit herself.

Butler said the funds in question are related to vacation pay.

“The sad part is that if she had brought this to the board, we probably would have approved paying it,” Butler said.

The Enterprise will have more details of the case and a complete report of Thursday night’s meeting in next week’s edition.

Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to reflect the investigation is being conducted by the Donley County Sheriff’s Office rather than the District Attorney’s office.

Howardwick City Hall is pushing back against a 40 percent water rate increase from Red River Water Authority, which will go into effect next month.

City Secretary Sandy Childress said Mayor Tony Clemishire spoke to the Red River board during a hearing in December, but the board approved the rate increase over the community’s objections.

The increase will change the minimum water bill for Howardwick residents from $73.50 per month to $103 per month.

“We’ve got the surveys that show 70 percent of our people out here are below the poverty level,” Childress said. “They can’t pay this.”

Howardwick’s only recourse is to petition the water authority to appeal the rate increase; but since the rate increase affects the entire Red River system, the threshold for petitioning is high.

“We have to get more than 400 signatures of customers, and we only have about 70 in Howardwick,” Childress said, so she is tracking down all the Red River customers she can find and will even take the petition to them if necessary.

In a letter to customers dated December 22, 2022, the Red River General Manager Randy Whiteman said the rate increase is needed.

“The Authority realizes that rate increases are not popular, but to achieve the Utility Division’s basic objective of providing a safe, potable water supply capable of meeting customers’ needs at the most economical cost, the rate increase is necessary,” Whiteman wrote.

Barring a successful appeal, the increase will take effect February 1 and show up on the March billing.

Red River customers interested in signing Howardwick’s petition are asked to call Childress at City Hall at 806-874-2222.

Citizens wishing to serve their community can now sign up for positions at six local governments that are scheduled to hold elections this spring.

The cities of Clarendon, Hedley, and Howardwick; the Clarendon and Hedley school districts; and the Donley County Hospital District all have a total of 17 positions available this year.

In Clarendon, the two-year terms of Mayor Jacob Fangman and Aldermen Terri Floyd and Eulaine McIntosh are up this year. Also on the city ballot this year, residents will be asked to renew the street maintenance sales tax.

The City of Hedley has three aldermen’s positions up this year. Those are two-year terms and are currently held by Aldermen Trisha Chambless, Alicia Hanes, and Jennifer Floyd.
In Howardwick the terms of Mayor Tony Clemishire and Aldermen Johnny Floyd and Jada Murray are expiring. Those are all two-year terms.

Clarendon ISD Trustees serve three years, and the terms of Kyle Davis and Chrisi Tucek are expiring this year.

Hedley ISD has two full three-year terms and one unexpired term up this year. Troy Monroe and Shauna Herbert currently hold the full-term seats, and Tangela Copelin is serving the unexpired term.

The Donley County Hospital District Board of Directors has three two-year terms up this year. Those are currently held by Rose Lemley Place 1, Jeff Robertson – Place 2, and Melinda McAnear – Place 3.

All local boards are elected at-large, but hospital board candidates must file for a specific place on the board. Candidate applications are available from the administrative offices of each entity. Applications for the City of Clarendon positions are also available at cityofclarendontx.com.

Filing for these offices began January 18 and continues through Friday, February 17. Elections are scheduled to be held Saturday, May 6, 2023.

Donley County Commissioners renewed a ban on outdoor burning during their regular meeting January 9.

Under the commissioners’ order no outdoor burning is allowed on a day of a forecasted Fire Weather Watch or a Red Flag Warning issued from the National Weather Service in Amarillo.

Anyone engaging in outdoor burning must contact the Donley County Sheriff’s office prior to ignition and give the dispatcher a burn location, a contact phone number, and approximate burn time. The persons engaging in outdoor burning needs to be present on the site of the burn until the burn is completed.

Anyone engaging in any form of outdoor burning is asked to burn with extreme caution.
Forecasters can issue the watch or warning for all or selected portions within a fire weather zone. The Red Flag event is verified when the weather and fuel conditions listed below are met simultaneously for any three hours or more during the period.

For information, log onto www.srh.noaa.gov/ama/.

The burn ban will stay in effect for the next 90 days.

The Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) is joining school districts across the state to show appreciation for locally elected board members as part of School Board Recognition Month, which is celebrated each year in January.

“Texas school boards are critical to the success of students and the future of Texas,” said TASB Executive Director Dan Troxell. “Boards lead their districts in the right direction, providing oversight, setting goals, overseeing the budget and selecting and evaluating the superintendent. These volunteers serve for the betterment of their local schools and communities.”

School board members are the largest group of locally elected officials in the state. School board members are not paid, volunteering their time and expertise to serve their local communities.

In recognition of their service, Gov. Greg Abbott issued a proclamation marking January as School Board Recognition Month in the state. “To catch a glimpse of the Texas of tomorrow, we need only look into the classrooms of today,” the proclamation states.
The document also acknowledges the importance of locally elected boards. “Individual schools and districts are answerable to the people through elected school boards. These boards set a vision for their district based on students’ needs and community values.”

View the full proclamation at sbrm.tasb.org.

To help school districts celebrate their trustees, TASB has created a planning kit with this year’s theme for the month, “Forward, Together.” The goal is to honor trustees and raise community awareness about their many contributions to Texas public education.

“The work of a school board trustee is both challenging and rewarding,” Troxell said. “There’s no better time to show our appreciation than the month of January as we start the new year with a renewed commitment and focus on excellent student outcomes.”

TASB encourages everyone to thank their local school board trustees and share their appreciation on social media using the hashtag #SchoolBoardMonth.

Learn more at tasb.org.

Donley County Commissioners approved a bid January 9 they believe will lead to improvements to some of the worst roads in the county.

Judge John Howard said county officials believe a scraper being used to mix materials into poor county roads will be beneficial but said the county does not own that type of machinery. Purchasing or leasing a scraper would was cost prohibitive, so the county took bids to contract that work.

The only bid received was from Koetting Construction, which is owned by Precinct 3 Commissioner Neil Koetting.

“Neil abstained from the voting,” Howard said. “The remaining three commissioners determined approving the bid was a reasonable, cost-effective way to make necessary improvements.”

The approval of the bid allows Koetting to use his personal equipment on the county roads and be paid $200 per hour for up to $10,000.

“These are roads people use for work, to get kids to school, and to receive emergency services,” Howard said, noting that the commissioners felt this was a good option to improve roads in Precinct 3.

In other county business, the court approved making an offer on the northeast quarter of the block west of the courthouse. Howard said the offer has been accepted and the contract is being worked on this week. No plans are currently in place for the property, but county officials felt it was a rare opportunity for the county to purchase land adjacent to the courthouse square.

Commissioners also considered a lone bid for a new maintenance barn in Hedley but tabled that item for the time being. It will be revisited in February.

Also in February, Howard said the court plans to consider new bids on the repair and maintenance of windows in the 1890 Courthouse.

New and updated property tax information has been compiled by the Donley Appraisal District and is available now to assist taxpayers.

This property tax information is current and covers a wide range of topics, such as taxpayer remedies, exemptions, and appraisals, and has information for select groups, such as disabled veterans and those age 65 or older.

“Whether you are a homeowner, business owner, disabled veteran or other property owner, it’s important to know your rights concerning property tax laws,” said Paula Lowrie, Chief Appraiser of the Donley Appraisal District. “Contact us with your questions and we’ll provide you the most complete, accurate and up-to-date information available to assist you.”

Property Tax Exemptions for Disabled Veterans – The law provides partial exemptions for any property owned by disabled veterans or surviving spouses and surviving children of deceased disabled veterans. Another partial exemption is for homesteads donated to disabled veterans by charitable organizations at no cost or not more than 50 percent of the good faith estimate of the homestead’s market value to the disabled veterans and their surviving spouses. The exemption amount is determined according to percentage of service–connected disability. The law also provides a 100 percent homestead exemption for 100 percent disabled veterans and their surviving spouses and surviving spouses of U.S. armed service members killed in the line of duty.

Homestead Exemptions– A homestead is generally defined as the home and land used as the owner’s principal residence on January 1 of the tax year. A homestead exemption reduces the appraised value of the homestead and, as a result, lowers property taxes. Applications are submitted to the appraisal district office.

Productivity Appraisal – Property owners who use land for agricultural purposes or wildlife management can be granted property tax relief on their land. You can file an application that may result in a lower appraisal of the land based on production, versus market value.

Property Tax Exemptions – Non–profit organizations that meet statutory requirements may seek property tax exemptions and must apply at the appraisal district by a specific date. Businesses that receive tax abatements granted by taxing units; ship inventory out of Texas that may be eligible for the freeport exemption; store certain goods in transit in warehouses that are moved within 175 days; construct, install or acquire pollution control property; own and operate energy storage systems; convert landfill–generated gas; or store offshore drilling equipment while not in use may also be eligible for statutory exemptions.

Rendering Taxable Property – If a business owns tangible personal property that is used to produce income, the business must file a rendition with the appraisal district by April 15. Personal property includes inventory and equipment used by a business. Owners do not have to render exempt property such as church property or an agriculture producer’s equipment used for farming. Failure to render results in a penalty being applied to the tax bill.

Residence Homestead Tax Deferral – Texas homeowners may postpone paying the currently delinquent property taxes due on the appreciating value of their homes by filing a tax deferral affidavit at their local county appraisal district. This tax relief allows homeowners to pay the property taxes on 105 percent of the preceding year’s appraised value of their homestead, plus the taxes on any new improvements to the homestead. The remaining taxes are postponed, but not canceled, with interest accruing at eight percent per year.

Property Tax Deferral for Persons Aged 65 or Older or Disabled or Disabled Veteran Homeowners – Texans aged 65 or older or disabled, as defined by law, or who qualify for a disabled veteran exemption may postpone paying current and delinquent property taxes on their homes by signing a tax deferral affidavit. Once the affidavit is on file, taxes are deferred, but not canceled, as long as the owner continues to own and live in the home. Interest continues to accrue at five percent per year on unpaid taxes. You may obtain a deferral affidavit at the appraisal district.

Appraisal Notices – Taxpayers typically receive a notice of appraised value from the appraisal district in the spring. The notice should be reviewed carefully; it contains important information about the property record. Once notices are mailed, the updated information is available at http://www.donleycad.org. The city, county, school districts and other local taxing units will use the appraisal district’s value to set property taxes for the coming year.

Protesting Property Appraisal Values – Property owners who disagree with the appraisal district’s appraisal of their property for local taxes or for any other action that adversely affects them may protest their property value to the Donley Appraisal Review Board (ARB). The normal deadline to file a protest is May 15.

Property Taxpayer Remedies – This comptroller publication explains in detail how to protest a property appraisal, what issues the county appraisal review board (ARB) can consider, and what to expect during a protest hearing. The publication also discusses the options of taking a taxpayer’s case to the district court, the State Office of Administrative Hearings, or binding arbitration if the taxpayer is dissatisfied with the outcome of the ARB hearing. You can find it at comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/property–tax/.

Notice of Availability of Electronic Communication – Chief appraisers and ARBs may communicate electronically through email or other media with property owners or their designated representatives. Written agreements are required for notices and other documents to be delivered electronically instead of mailing.

To learn more, visit http://www.donleycad.org.

Information is also available on the Comptroller’s Property Tax Assistance Division’s website at comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/property-tax/.

The Donley Appraisal District can be reached by phone at 806-874-2744.