NEWS
Sheriff launching crime prevention series across the county
The Montague County Sheriff’s Office will present the first in a series of crime prevention meetings at 7 p.m. on Oct. 3 at the Sunset Fire Hall.
This program will be coordinated by Kevin Benton, who has joined County Sheriff Marshal Thomas’ team to coordinate crime prevention and related activities for the department.
Benton is not a newcomer to the sheriff’s office, having started his career with the SO as a patrol deputy in December 1986. He moved up the ranks to criminal investigators and sheriff leaving the department in December 1995 to become criminal investigator for the 97th District Attorney and later for the Cooke County DA. He worked in the DA offices 15 years.
Benton went to the Wise County Sheriff’s Office in 2010 where he retired on Aug. 1 as chief deputy and with 30 years in law enforcement. He and his wife, Cindy, reside in Bowie.
During these town hall meetings, Benton said he will talk about many aspects of crime prevention including safety tips for those who live in rural areas, with an emphasis on farm and ranch security.
Read the full story in the mid-week News.
By BARBARA GREEN
editor@bowienewsonline.com
The 2026 certified property values for Montague County were released to the 16 taxing entities for which it sets values and for Montague County the total numbers were up 3.591%.
With the arrival of these numbers, the taxing entities can begin serious work on creating their budgets and proposed tax rates. Last year the Montague County Tax Appraisal District had to create two sets of values pending the November homestead election so they were happy things were back to just one set.
Certified values are based on property sales made as of Jan. 1, 2026. Chief Appraiser Kim Haralson said the values held up well during the protest hearings, and while minerals went down some there were a lot of new properties added.
New taxable property totaled $87,505,775 for 1,208 properties. Haralson said people appear to be setting up manufactured homes on some of the two-acre tract subdivision and other subdivisions are seeing people start to build houses.
Read the full story in the Thursday Bowie News.
By BARBARA GREEN
editor@bowienewsonline.com
It is going to be a tough budget season for the Bowie City Council as it works through a draft budget proposal that tries to figure out how to pay for major projects and maintain present operations for the 2026-27 fiscal year.
As per the city charter, City Manager Bert Cunningham presented the budget proposal to the council on July 14, emphasizing without the final certified property values, as well as the final health insurance rates, it truly is a draft. The city staff also await the final bid numbers for the Rock and Pillar drainage project hovering around $2 million with plans to fund it through the budget.
A budget workshop was scheduled for 6 p.m. on July 27 with a public hearing to follow on Aug. 11.
Cunningham said the certified figures may become available by the end of the week, but that is uncertain. Two months ago the city’s preliminary values were up $70,530,035 from the 2025 final values, however, usually the certified values fluctuate slightly from the preliminary numbers, which totaled $497,939,568.
Read the full story in the Thursday Bowie News.
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