NEWS
Rainfall pushes local lakes levels up as summer nears
Spring thunderstorms and tornadic activity during the weekend caused significant damage in nearby southern Oklahoma cities of Marietta and Sulphur, and while flood warnings were issued for Montague County there were no reports of significant damage in the area.
Flood watch and warnings for the northern part of the county went up Saturday night, but there were no warnings issued for the City of Bowie. Kirk Higgins, emergency management coordinator, said there were no hyperlink warnings set out Saturday and he is unaware of any storm-related damage.
There also were reports of text messages being sent out that only stated “Shelter in place,” with no explanation or attribution. Higgins said he is unaware of any such warnings and the possibly bogus messages if real would have included some explanation.
With the official kickoff of summer a little more than a month away at the end of May, local lakes will go into the summer season strong.
Lake Amon G. Carter reached 100% at 920.51 mean sea level as of April 29. Just one month ago it was at 85.65% full at 918.03 msl, and it remained stable just dropping to 84% six months ago. One year ago it was just shy of full at 97.8% or 919.71 msl.
Read the full story on the local lakes in the mid-week Bowie 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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