ereford
RAND
Vol. 118, No. 16 • Hereford and Deaf Smith County, Texas
Wednesday, August 31, 2016
16 Pages, $1
City tax increase draws little interest John Carson BRAND managing editor Based on the turnout for Monday’s first public hearing on raising the property tax rate in the city of Hereford, residents appear unconcerned over an increase in their expenses. With no public attendance Monday, the Hereford City Commission has one public hearing to clear before a roughly 2 cent tax hike will go into effect for the 2016-17 fiscal year. The proposed city budget for
United Way ups its ante
2016-17, which commissioners a tax hike. got their first look at on There was opposition Aug. 15, includes a rise to increasing property in property taxes from taxes with Place 2 31.38 cents per $100 Commissioner Angie valuation to 33.0 cents Alonzo saying it put and a 3 percent increase an unfair burden on in water and sewer rates, property owners. as well as a maximum She suggested the 1.5 increase in garbage needed revenue come rates and 3 percent raise solely from water and for city employees. sewer rates increases ALONZO After seeing the tax and usage fees. rate plummet from 42 Place 6 Commissioner cents to almost 30 this century, Marcos Castro conceded the city officials said it was time for burden a tax increase puts
on property owners, but said depending only upon water profits to generate revenue was not guaranteed – whereas a tax increase ensures a revenue stream. The almost $9.6 million city budget is just more than $263,000 in the black after a proposed $1.625 million transfer from water and sewer profits. The largest chunks of the budget are delegated to the police (almost $3 million), health ($1.6 million) and street ($1.44
million) departments. The budget also includes $627,350 in capital purchases for the upcoming fiscal year. The second of the required tax-rate public hearings is scheduled for Monday, Sept. 12 at 5 p.m., in city hall. Commissioners have cancelled their regular meeting on Sept. 5 due to Labor Day and are set to meet again on Monday, Sept. 19. Expectations are for the budget to be passed at the time in advance of the Oct. 1 start of the fiscal year.
Loose on the range
C.E. Hanna BRAND staff writer The best approach to tackling a problem is to start with small, realistic goals and graduate from there, which is a formula that has proven successful for the United Way of Deaf Smith County (UWDSC). This year, the organization has increased its fundraising goal from last year’s collected $250,000 to $275,000 as it kicks off its annual campaign, running from Sept. 1 to Oct. 31, to benefit 14 area non-profit agencies. “Every penny goes to benefit our residents,” United Way Executive Director Linda McConnell said. “What we raise here, stays here.” The allocation of funds to the various agencies – Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Great Plains CASA for Kids, Hereford Day Care, Hereford Food Pantry, Hereford Satellite Center, Epilepsy Foundation West Texas, Home Delivered Meals, Salvation Army, Texas Panhandle Mental Health Mental Retardation, Deaf Smith County Crisis Center, Hereford and Vicinity YMCA, BRIDGE, Snack Pak 4 Kids and Hereford Regional SportsPlex – depend upon its needs as outlined by the IRS 990 documentation.
Books needed to spur reading
By C.E. Hanna BRAND Staff Writer
Photo by Bryan Hedrick, HISD Hereford sophomore Seth Dixon, a state bronze-medal wrestler, shows his gridiron prowess Friday as breaks into the clear during a 30-yard, touchdown run in the first quarter of a 27-20 season-opening loss to Estacado. For more on the season opener and Friday’s home opener against Borger, see Sports, page 7A.
PLEASE SEE ANTE | 3A
As students at Hereford High School (HHS) have reluctantly returned to hit the books, the HHS English Department is wondering if that reluctance might dissipate were students permitted to choose their own titles. Ergo, this school year, HHS English department head Rachael Collins is looking to build classroom libraries in every English classroom to allow for personal taste and is seeking donations of used books in every genre. “I attended a literacy conference over the summer, and one of the speakers said this generation of kids can get the gist of any story from SparkNotes [a website featuring plot summaries], but they’re not getting any depth from that,” Collins said. According to Collins, simple laziness is only partially to blame – lack of interest in whole-class texts is the greater culprit. The speaker’s research regarding college freshman discovered that most have weekly reading assignments ranging from 300-600 pages. THose students who managed to get by using plot summaries do not have the stamina to keep up PLEASE SEE BOOKS | 2A
Wired buses keep traveling students from long nights By C.E. Hanna BRAND Staff Writer Student’s schedules can prove grueling considering class, athletics, clubs and homework. Those who travel often will sacrifice sleep in order to stay caught up with their studies. Hereford Independent School District (HISD) is looking to overcome
hectic scheduling and late nights of homework with the acquisition of two “activity” buses – $180,520 each – which utilize Cradlepoint solutions for mobile Wi-Fi access. “A lot of people know it by ‘hotspots,’” HISD Technology Center Director Joe Mendez said. “It’s the same type PLEASE SEE BUS | 2A