Volume 3, Issue 5
In God We Trust
difficult and dangerous than many people care to acknowledge. Some come back in caskets.
In This Issue: Armed Forces First............. 3
Winston Churchill once observed, “We sleep safely at night because rough men stand ready to visit violence on those who would harm us.”
What’s Been Happening .... 4 A Look Back ...................... 6 New Employees ................. 9 KAB ................................... 10 Contact Information and Map of Locations ............... 11 Ron Wright
Dates to Remember:
The Wright Stuff
Special Inventory Tax Due………….………..…..10
A Time to Remember
Armed Forces Day…..…...21
The old adage that it was God who made us free, but it is the soldier who keeps us that way is worth contemplating this Memorial Day. It is the soldier who dons a uniform, picks up a weapon and stands in the breach to defend us and protect us, whether the breach is created by naziism, communism, or terrorism. More often than not that breach is in far away places under conditions more
Memorial Day.………...…30 (all county offices closed) Value Protests for Resident Homesteads Due at Tarrant Appraisal District………….31
May 1, 2016
Today one could add that women also stand ready. We can forgive a great leader his 1940’s sensibilities. It was Churchill, after all. Americans are not naturally a warlike people, and many of us would prefer to not think about the necessity of depending on the rough men Churchill mentioned. Indeed, some would prefer to pretend that large standing armies of soldiers are not necessary at all. Remember the “peace dividend” of the 1990’s? The problem, as we are always reminded, is there are people in the world who are a threat to Americans everywhere Continued on Page 2
Volume 3, Issue 5
Taxing News
May 1, 2016
The Wright Stuff, Continued and our way of life. Sometimes, they try to kill us, and sometimes, they succeed. And sometimes, the only thing between them and us are those rough men. The inconvenient truth that some are loathe to admit is that sometimes we need triggers to be pulled. In what many consider his most commanding performance, Jack Nicholson as Colonel Jessup in A Few Good Men delivered one of the most dramatic speeches ever put on film. At the end of the scene he is escorted from the courtroom to be formally charged with ordering the murder of one of his men, but first he speaks a defiant truth: “You can’t handle the truth! Son, we live in a world that has walls, and those walls have to be guarded by men with guns….You don’t want the truth because deep down in places you don’t talk about at parties, you want me on that wall! You need me on that wall! We use words like “honor”, “code”, “loyalty”. We use these words as the backbone of a life spent defending something.” On February 22, 1969, 24 year old Robert David Law of
Fort Worth, a graduate of what is now Trimble Tech High School, was on a long range recon patrol in Vietnam with five other members of the 75th Ranger Regiment when they encountered a small enemy patrol. A fierce firefight ensued. Law was on the bank of a creek, and his comrades were a few feet away when an enemy grenade landed among them. Law looked directly at his buddies and dove onto the grenade, saving their lives. He could have easily avoided the blast by diving into the creek. He chose instead to give his life for theirs. For his heroic action, Robert Law received the Medal of Honor posthumously, one of only four men from Tarrant County to ever receive our nation’s highest honor for valor and the only one from the Vietnam War. His body lies in an inconspicuous grave at Mt. Olivet Cemetery. It is people like Robert Law and hundreds of thousands of others who died in our country’s service that we honor this Memorial Day. They are the ones who paid the ultimate price for freedom. It is easy to write about the horrors of war; it’s 2
quite another to experience those horrors. As Gen. Douglas MacArthur once remarked, “Whoever said that the pen is mightier than the sword never saw automatic weapons.” Tarrant County has been home to people in the military since it was founded in 1849. The county has a long history of supporting our men and women in uniform. That continues today with the county’s Armed Forces First policy of letting those in uniform go to the front of the line. May it always be so. The next time you see a man or woman in uniform, thank them for their service. That uniform is an affirmative statement that says that they are willing to put their lives on the line at a moment’s notice to protect us and keep us free. And this Memorial Day, take time out to remember... Ron Wright
Armed Forces First In keeping with the Armed Forces First Initiative in Tarrant County allowing uniformed service members to move to the front of any line, we’ve spotted a few servicemen in our offices. Thank you for your service!
Pictured at left: Travis Moore, US Air Force
May 21
At right: Carl Vella, US Air Force
DON’T FORGET!! Attention: Resident Homesteads
Value Protests are due at Tarrant Appraisal District by May 31!!
Tax Office Stats for April 2016 Property Tax Amount Collected
$27,575,666
Phone Calls Received
26,162
Motor Vehicle Titles Processed
Accounts Paid
Motor Vehicle Registrations Processed
26,930
68,967
Which principle of the Constitution allows each branch of government to check what the other branches do to prevent any one branch from becoming too powerful? Email your answer to Tax-SDC@tarrantcounty.com
45,983 Property Tax
Newsletter Noncents
Left: Ron Wright and granddaughter, Reagan Wright. Reagan aced the 8th grade STAAR American History exam. We plan to use the exam at Staff Development Day for our History Quiz.
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Taxing News
Volume 3, Issue 5
May 1, 2016
What’s Been Happening‌. Celebrating Opening Day!
Mansfield Office: Shannon Shaw, Chris Neal (also his birthday), and Manager Karen Edmondson. Left: Administrative Assistant Stefani Flores and her husband, Daniel, enjoy Opening Day at the Ballpark.
Property Tax Assessment Department: Manager Jeff Hodges and Kirby Tibbit.
Employee Appreciation Day in Fort Worth
Above: Commissioner Roy Brooks addressed employees.
Right: Lisa Anderson
Above: Charlotte Tackett
Above: Amelia Rice, Beckie Fernandez, and Andree Johnson at Employee Appreciation in downtown Fort Worth on May 3.
Left: Sandra Martin
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What’s Been Happening
Arlington staff
Poly staff Ender Reed, Liaison with Texas Association of Counties, met with Ron Wright on April 26 to discuss the Senate Hearing Committee on Property Tax Reform. Reed will be a guest speaker at our Staff Development Day on May 11.
Monte Shaw, Wise County Tax Assessor-Collector and Ron Wright met on May 5 to discuss the latest TxDMV changes.
Left: Dallas County Tax Assessor-Collector John Ames and staff met in Arlington on April 22 to discuss the benefits and challenges of having Nemo Q in our offices for managing our customer lines more efficiently.
Our Vision: We are a professional team of positive and dedicated individuals who serve with integrity, tenacity, and compassion in an innovative and inclusive environment.
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A Look Back…..by Ron Wright Remembering the First Soldiers Before there was an official Memorial Day, there were brave men of the United States Army who died in the line of duty in Tarrant County. They were the three men of the 2nd U.S. Dragoons and eight men of Company F, 8th U.S. Infantry who died serving their country at Fort Worth. All but one died in 1851; the last died in 1852. The fort would be vacated by the U. S. Army in 1853.
The eleven soldiers of Fort Worth were buried near the children of the fort’s founder, Maj. Ripley Arnold, in a tiny cemetery northeast of the fort. After the fort was abandoned, enterprising settlers, chief among them the Father of Fort Worth (the city) Ephraim Daggett, took over the fort buildings and began a new settlement and kept the name, Fort Worth. The tiny cemetery
would grow as the town grew. Years later it would be known as Old City Cemetery until 1909 when it became Pioneers Rest Cemetery. The street leading to the cemetery would become Samuels Avenue. A small monument with a plaque near the graves in the rear of the cemetery contain the names of the 11 soldiers who died at Fort Worth. It is one of the few reminders of their service to their country. Nearby are the graves of the Arnold
The Fort Worth Eleven:
Private Isaac Hollyfield, 2nd Reg., U.S. Dragoons……. 17 June 1851
Private Michael Farrell, 2nd Reg., U.S. Dragoons…….20 June 1851
Corporal William McKee, 8th Reg., U.S. Infantry…….24 July 1851
Private Michael Crehan, 8th Reg., U.S. Infantry…….25 October 1851
Private James Ryan, 8th Reg., U.S. Infantry…………..27 November 1851
Private Patrick Dolan, 8th Reg., U.S. Infantry……….28 November 1851
Private Peter Riley, 8th Reg., U.S. Infantry…………..29 November 1851
Corporal Thomas Scott, 8th Reg., U.S. Infantry…….16 December 1851
Private John Koch, 8th Reg., U.S. Infantry…………….28 December 1851
Private William McConnell, 8th Reg., U.S. Infantry…..30 December 1851 6
A Look Back, cont‌.. children, then the large stone that marks the grave of Ripley Arnold, himself, although he did not die here. Within months of leaving Fort Worth, Arnold was killed at Fort Graham in a senseless shootout with the fort doctor. His body was reburied next to his children in 1854. Not far from the Arnold grave is the grave of the county namesake, General Edward H. Tarrant. The Dragoons that Arnold brought to the bluff overlooking the confluence of two forks of the Trinity River were hardened men. They had to be. Life
didn’t get much harder than life on the frontier of Texas in the 1850s, especially near an untamed river that exploded with spring rains, became almost a trickle by late summer, and bred mosquitos by the million. Regular supplies had to be augmented by what could be hunted or scavenged from the land. And then there was the reason the fort was established, marauding Indians that continued to threaten settlers moving into the area. Death on the frontier was as close as the next cough or cut. None of the
Ron Wright with County Clerk Mary Louise Garcia and Lake Worth Officials Mayor Walter Bowen and City Manager Brett McGuire.
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11 soldiers who died at Fort Worth were killed by Indians. Still, the Fort Worth Eleven served with distinction. We today should be grateful for their service; their memory should be honored like that of all American soldiers on Memorial Day. What they built on the bluff became a great city and the seat of a great county.
May they never be forgotten. God bless their memory, and God bless America!
Property Tax Manager Morris Booth, Motor Vehicle Manager Rosie Enriquez, and Ron Wright stand in front of the Tax Office booth at the annual Senior Synergy held on May 5 at the Will Rogers Coliseum in Fort Worth.
Volume 3, Issue 5
Taxing News
May 1, 2016
What’s Been Happening‌.
Above, left to right: Ron Wright, Tom Spencer, Anita El Sakhawy, Dorothy Starr and Elisa Hand review the 2017 Tax Office budget.
Above, left to right: Shannon Shaw, Ron Wright and Karen Edmondson at the Business After Hours in Mansfield on April 21.
Jessica Montoya was awarded the Employee of the Month award at the Northeast branch in Hurst given by Manager Joanna Fisk.
Mission Statement We will serve the citizens of Tarrant County with pride, courtesy, respect, and determination. Elvira Simpson, Manager at the Northwest branch in Lake Worth, won 3rd place in the chili cook-off at Employee Appreciation on May 3.
We will achieve excellence in what we do by providing accurate, efficient, and timely service consistent with the laws of the State of Texas and the highest ethical standard.
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What’s Been Happening….
Janice O’Neal Customer Service Representative
Will Jones Part-Time Motor Vehicle
Above: All new employees are sworn in by Ron Wright and then are required to attend new employee orientation. Here, Janice and Sarah are sworn in on their first day!
Sarah Blackmon Customer Service Representative
Amber Bundschu Part-Time Motor Vehicle
New Employees Margarita Chavez Property Tax
Chris Stanley Motor Vehicle
Rebekah Cantu Part-Time Motor Vehicle
Speaking of new, check out the newest addition to the hallway of the 1st floor of the Administration Building in downtown Ft Worth.
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Volume 3, Issue 5
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May 1, 2016
The blue comment cards are an important tool for letting your Tax Assessor-Collector, Ron Wright, know how we are doing in all of the offices. Please complete a card at your next visit. The office with the highest percentage of positive comment cards each quarter wins the coveted Customer Service banner to display in their office for the next quarter!
Leo, Downtown: “Service remained friendly despite complicated matter…” Customer service is not a department, it’s everyone’s job.
Crystal, Southwest: “Crystal was very helpful both times she waited on me and maintained a cheerful and helpful attitude.” Judy, Southlake: “Judy was very friendly and helpful. She answered all my questions with a smile!” Beth, Northwest: “Made a scary thing easy—great representative.” Donna, Northeast: “Great service. Explained in detail what to do.” Jayme, Mansfield: “This office is awesome. All clerks were professional & courteous…” Daniela, Arlington: “Excellent service!”
Ron Wright will be honored in Commissioners Court in May for 5 years of service, and will be joined by these employees: Joshua Kobayashi—10 years Ashlee McGinty—5 years Christopher Neal—5 years
Camryn Robbins ........................ 3
Kim Jayme ................................. 8
Julia Kelly.................................. 20
Kameisha Crawford ................... 3
Theresa Steele............................ 8
Carmen Holloway ...................... 21
Marcy Hubbard.......................... 5
Jan Phillips ................................ 9
Joan Coulter ............................... 23
Kat Woldt .................................. 6
Karina Villalba .......................... 10
Danny Nichols ........................... 7
Amelia Rice ............................... 13
Lalania Gaines ........................... 7
Erika Fitchett ............................. 19
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Tarrant County Tax Office Locations Hours: Monday—Friday 8:00 am—5:00 pm
CONTACT US
Main Office Building 100 East Weatherford St. Fort Worth, TX 76196 Phone: 817-884-1100
Northwest 6713 Telephone Rd. Rm. 101 Lake Worth, TX 76135 Phone: 817-238-4435
Arlington 700 E. Abram St. Arlington, TX 76010 Phone: 817-548-3935
Poly 3212 Miller Ave. Fort Worth, TX 76105 Phone: 817-531-5635
Mansfield 1100 E. Broad St. Mansfield, TX 76063 Phone: 817-473-5127
Southlake 1400 Main St. Suite 110 Southlake TX 76092 Phone: 817-481-8141
Northeast 645 E. Grapevine Highway Hurst, TX 76054 Phone: 817-581-3635
Southwest 6551 Granbury Rd Fort Worth, TX 76133 Phone: 817-370-4535
817-884-1100 Email Property Tax Department at: taxoffice@tarrantcounty.com
Email Motor Vehicle Department at: mvt@tarrantcounty.com Questions about the newsletter may be directed to Vickie Doane at Tax-SDC@tarrantcounty.com
Visit our website at: www.tarrantcounty.com Registration renewals may be purchased at your local Carnival, Fiesta, Kroger, and Tom Thumb stores in Bedford, Hurst, Keller, Mansfield, Southlake, Arlington, Grapevine, and Fort Worth. Check our website for a list of locations at www.tarrantcounty.com. Be sure to bring your renewal notice, proof of insurance and an acceptable form of ID such as a Texas Driver’s License or ID card.
Email Tax-SDC@tarrantcounty.com to subscribe to our monthly newsletter distribution list. 11
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