NEWS

Bowie City Council declines action on water rate proposals

Published

2 years ago

02/06/2025

By BARBARA GREEN
editor@bowienewsonline.com
Proposed water rate hikes in the City of Bowie died from a lack of council action as there were questions on the need for such large hikes.
There was lengthy debate at last week’s city council session as City Manager Bert Cunningham once more presented two sets of rate hike proposals which he said are needed to help make the water department self-sustaining and to plan for the mandated purchase of a new raw water pump.
The rate proposals were first offered to the council back in early December, but they returned for consideration at the Jan. 27 meeting. Cunningham explained just like citizen’s costs have increased in the past year, the city’s costs have risen substantially causing the water department to consistently lose money. Back in 2018 the water rates were inadequate to rising costs so the city increased them by 4% to pay for inflated costs of treating water, maintenance of the plant and replacing old lines throughout the city.
In addition to those costs, no new funds have been added to the infrastructure fund, which is used to help fund larger projects in the city. In his presentation back in December the manager said in fiscal 2021-22 the average revenue was $179,769.04 and expenses were $115,107.29 resulting in an average profit of $64,661.75.
In 2022-23 revenue dropped to $173,977.46 with expenses at $150,370.78. Average profit came in at $23,606.68. And in 2023-24 revenue is at $165,176.61 with expenses at $174,391.75 giving up an average loss of $1,307.94 a month, losing money in each of the last five months. In a new update Cunningham told the council in the first two months of this year the water department has lost $102,000.

Read the full story in the Thursday Bowie News.

COUNTY LIFE

Montague County sees 56.1% voter turnout in midterms

Published

6 minutes ago

11/05/2026

bowienews

Montague County voters joined the rest of the state with a tremendous turnout in Tuesday’s elections.
The elections administration office reported with all 10 precincts counted a turnout of 56.01% or 8,732 casting ballots. There are 15,591 registered voters in the county.
While there were no county contested races, there were two city council and two school board elections.
The Bowie City Council has three places on the ballot. Laura Sproles, incumbent, was not challenged for her place two.
Levi Bailey won the precinct one seat with 925 votes. Valerie Thomerson received 328 votes.
In precinct three, Terry Gunter won with 1,027 votes and Glenda Durham was second with 383

Read the full story in the Thursday Bowie News.

NEWS

Nocona teen dies after apolice chase

Published

13 minutes ago

11/05/2026

bowienews

A 15-year-old Nocona boy was killed in a crash following a law enforcement pursuit just after midnight on Nov. 1.
Sgt. Aaron Brandle, public information officer with the Montague County Sheriff’s office, said the crash occurred on Nov. 1 at around 12:21 a.m.
The vehicle in the pursuit crashed in the 3600 block of Cardwell Road in Montague County. The juvenile was the sole occupant of the vehicle and was ejected as a result of the crash.
The release states responding law enforcement personnel immediately initiated life-saving measures at the scene. The juvenile was subsequently transported to Nocona General Hospital, where despite continued life-saving efforts, he was pronounced deceased.

While the authorities have not publicly identified the deceased, several community efforts have been launched to assist the family of AR “Mando” Alcantar, a sophomore at Nocona High School. Students and staff also have taken steps to remember the popular young man.

A Gofundme account also has been sent up under the name Small Town, Big Hearts – Help support the Alcantar Family. It was organized by Kelsey Cabrera.

(Top photo – AR “Mando” Alcantar)

Read the full report in the Thursday Bowie News.

The Bowie News staff apologizes for the error in spelling of the the young man’ s name in the print edition. It stated “Mondo” and that was incorrect. We did not find the error until after press time.