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Energy values fall 51% across Montague County

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2020 Montague County preliminary property values

By BARBARA GREEN
[email protected]
As energy production values dropped 30-40 percent across Montague County, tax entities are seeing significant reductions in their preliminary property values, which doesn’t bode well for this year’s budgets or tax rates.
This past week property owners began receiving the more than 14,000 real estate and business property preliminary value statements mailed out by the Montague County Tax Appraisal District. An additional 75,000 were mailed out by mineral appraisers Pritchard and Abbott to those property owners.
Kim Haralson, chief appraiser for the MCTAD said this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions protests can only be done by teleconference or through paper affidavit, which is what Haralson suggests. The last day to protest real estate and business is May 15, and for oil and gas properties May 22 is the last day.
.The appraisal district handles appraisals for all the taxing entities in the county which includes all cities, school districts and watersheds.
As oil and gas prices plummeted to new lows during late 2019, that trend continued to historic levels into spring 2020 when oil hit a negative level at one point. During the third week of April it was $14.99 a barrel.
Property appraisals are based on the values as of Jan. 1, 2020, and do not reflect any activity after that point.

Read the full story in the weekend Bowie News.

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NEWS

Senate District 30 runoff early voting to open

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Texans continue to go to the elections polls as voters decide who will face off in the November general election to fill the 30th Senatorial District seat.
Both the Democratic and Republican Parties will have party primary runoffs on May 28 as they try to select a candidate to fill the seat of Senator Drew Springer (R-Muenster) who chose not to see a second-four-year term after winning a special election in 2020. He ran unopposed in 2022.
There were multiple candidates in both party primaries back in March and no one was able to garner the necessary majority. The top two vote-getters will face off to determine a winner for the November ballot.
Early voting for the runoff runs May 20-24 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Montague County Courthouse Annex Community Room. This is the only location for early voting.
On election day voting polls will be located in the courthouse annex, Bowie Senior Citizens Center, Nocona City Hall and Saint Jo Civic Center. They will be open 7 a.m.. to 7 p.m.
Those who voted in the March primary can only cast ballots in that party primary, voters cannot switch parties. Those who did not vote in the primary can vote in either party primary.

Read more on this story in the mid-week Bowie News.

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NEWS

County to bid SO radio console

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By BARBARA GREEN
[email protected]
Montague County Commissioners will make plans to take bids for a radio console at the sheriff’s office after a portion of the unit went down.
That was just one of the many topics in Monday’s court session. An executive session to discuss pending litigation was tabled after County Judge Kevin Benton reported a conference call with the other party’s attorney and County Attorney Clay Riddle showed they were not ready for discussion and he asked it be tabled, which was approved.
On the radio console, the court has been talking about the unit since Sheriff’ Marshall Thomas reported the console has reached the end of its life expectancy of eight years and was having lots of problems. The county had applied for a grant to help pay for it, but it won’t be announced until June.
The radio system has two parts said Thomas and one unit has completely stopped working, however, they are still able to use the radio for now and handle 911 service. Judge Benton said in looking at the estimated costs it was expected to be just under the $50,000 bid limit hovering around $42,000; however, they also have found the unit needs five radios through which it can transmit from the two computers which will push up the price.

Read the full story in the mid-week Bowie News.

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Building projects lead Bowie City Council agenda

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Infrastructure projects once more dominate the agenda of the Bowie City Council when it meets at 6 p.m. on May 13.
A pair of proclamations open the meeting, one for Emergency Medical Services Week and National Travel and Tourism Week.
City Manager Bert Cunningham will present information on the substation transformer project, the phase two sewer line replacement contract, status of the infrastructure fund and plans for the budget.
A pair of public works requests will ask for $24,000 out of the infrastructure fund to buy nine fire hydrants and $29,825 from the meter tap account to buy replacement meters. Public Works Director Stony Lowrance is expected to make that presentation.

Read the full story in the weekend Bowie News.

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