Archives for August 2026

The Clarendon City Council shot down a variance request that would have allowed RVs in the R1 residential zone during the city’s regular meeting August 13.

The request to allow recreational vehicle campers at 816 S. Johns Street was met with criticism from the council, which last month began the process of drafting an ordinance to govern RV parks in the city. The hand-drawn plan in front aldermen last week showed three RVs to be placed on the property with a storm shelter nearby.

Aldermen said they did not want RV parks in residential areas and noted that the zoning rules currently do not allow that activity.

The aldermen were unanimous in their desire to not approve the request with the only contention being whether they should simply take no action on the request and let it die or to actual take a recorded vote against the request.

Several council members felt that an official vote would send a stronger message for this request and future requests. The council then voted unanimously to deny the request.

Interim City Administrator Floyd Hartman gave an updated on the proposed RV park ordinance, which he said was still being reviewed by the city attorney. He said he hopes to have the draft ordinance ready for council to look at in September.

The RV issue is one the council identified earlier this summer as an area the city needs to address to be prepare for an influx of activity that neighboring towns have experienced due to construction on data center projects.

In addition to regulating RVs in the city, building codes and code enforcement have been other areas the council and Hartman have been working to improve.

Danny Barrett of Texas Communities Group addressed the board about additional services TCG can provide to help the city improve code enforcement, specifically in terms of weeds and grass, debris, and junk vehicles. At the council’s direction, TCG will have a proposal services focused on those areas at the September 10 meeting.

Hartman also led a discussion about reinstating building permits and building codes in the city, which were repealed about a decade ago. More information is being gathered about what the city can and should do and what should be left to the state. Aldermen say they want enforcement but do not want undue burdens on residents wanting to do home improvements.

In other city business, the council designated Paula Lowrie as the person responsible for the city complying with Texas Tax Code; proposed a tax rate of $0.579323 per $100 valuation for the coming year; set tax and budget hearing dates next month; approved employee policy changes as corrected; and reappointed Cameron Word as the city’s representative on the Greenbelt Water Authority Board. In his administrator’s report, Hartman gave an update on the TECQ water quality violation and steps the city and Greenbelt are taking to address that issue.

Sales tax revenues surged for Donley County municipalities when Texas Comptroller Don Huffines delivered August allocations last week.

The City of Clarendon saw its monthly revenue increase 16.57 percent compared to the same period in 2025 for an August total of $60,128.03. The city is now running 3.93 percent ahead for the calendar year-to-date with sales tax revenues of $383,438.93.

In Hedley, revenue jumped 17.87 percent for an August total of $1,723.32, pushing the year-to-date figure up 11.74 percent to $11,962.55.

Howardwick’s August revenue was up 23.29 percent at $2,519.18, but the lakeside city is lagging behind 4.95 percent for the calendar year at $14,970.61.

Donley County Assistance District 1, collecting sales tax to assist with county law enforcement in Howardwick, was up 32.63 percent at $1,977.02 this month and is up 4.74 percent for the year-to-date at $10,727.31.

Donley County Assistance District 2, still in its first year of collecting sales tax for county law enforcement in the unincorporated areas of the county, received $14,776.43 this month and now has a year-to-date total of $61,287.44.

In neighboring cities, Memphis was up 25.63 percent this month for an August total of $46,603.49, risng 16.89 percent on the year-to-date at $309,329.54; Wellington was up 17.46 percent to $45,775.07 this month, pushing ahead 3.39 percent for the year at $284,625.25; and Claude was up 102.13 percent with an allocation of $53,865.32, an increase of 125.18 percent for the year at $391,060.06.

Armstrong County was up 4,820.38 percent with an August allocation of $563,526.27, pushing its year-to-date figure up 2,455.26 percent at $2,209,381.31.

Statewide, the comptroller delivered $1.4 billion in sales tax allocations to local governments for August, 13.6 percent more than in August 2025.

These allocations are based on sales made in June by businesses that report tax monthly and on sales made in April, May and June by quarterly filers.

Hedley school trustees voted to withdraw from the federal school lunch program during a called meeting on Monday, August 10.

Interim Superintendent Larry Jeffers told the Enterprise that with a smaller enrollment as an elementary school, it just wasn’t worth it to continue to deal with the federal regulations.

“We will handle all that in house without any federal involvement,” Jeffers said, “and run the cafeteria on our own.” 

The board approved two motions related to the lunch program. The first was to discontinue the Federal Lunch Requirements due to the reduced number of students, and the second was to discontinue the National School Lunch Program. 

“We may just kick the food pyramid on its side now instead of turning it upside down,” Jeffers joked.

Jeffers said Hedley’s enrollment on the first day of school Tuesday was 35, which was about five students higher than he previously predicted.

In other school business, Monday, trustees met with the school’s attorney to discuss possible consolidation, but no action was taken following the discussion in closed session.

An hourly rate increase was approved for non-contractual employees as presented, and trustees also voted to accept the resignations of custodian Larry Ely, paraprofessional Katherine Monroe, cafeteria worker Josh Harrison, and cafeteria manager Jeremy Jeffers. 

Donley County Commissioners filed a proposed $4.47 million budget this week for fiscal year 2027, an overall decrease of about $100,000 compared to the current budget.

The proposed budget approved on Monday increases several line items, and County Judge John Howard notes that the county’s proposed tax rate is higher than the current rate, the first increase in several years. Declining revenues in traffic fines is a principal reason that taxes will be going up, Howard said, calling it “necessary to support the budget.”

“We expected to see about $500,000 in traffic fines, but it has been closer to $300,000,” Howard said.

Less highway patrol activity means lower revenues for the county, the judge said.

“We’re now months without an area DPS sergeant here,” he said. “There are DPS shortages across the state.”

Also affecting the budget is a carryover from the current budget that is about $100,000 less than projected.

The county’s total proposed tax rate for FY 2027 is $0.684567 per $100 valuation compared to the current rate of $0.558867. The proposed rate will bring in $303,444 more than last year’s budget. An estimated $2,582,425 will be collected in property taxes with fees, fines, grants, and other sources bringing in the additional revenue.

Looking towards the future, Howard notes that this coming fiscal year will be the last payment in lieu of taxes from the wind farm near Jericho, which amounts to $200,000. The wind turbines will come on the tax roll and be subject to ad valorem taxes for fiscal year 2028, but it remains to be seen what their value will be after depreciation.

Howard also says that the Texas Association of Counties has let its members know they expect the Texas Legislature to crack down hard on local governments taxing authority in the next session.

“The likelihood is the Legislature will box us in on our ability to raise taxes in the future,” Howard said.

The county is also facing increasing costs in the upcoming budget. County officials and employees will see raises with exception of the members of the commissioners’ court. This is the fourth year that commissioners and the county judge have not had their local salaries raised. 

Health care costs are another big expense for the county, going up about seven percent or close to $1,000 per employee, Howard said.

The county has eliminated two fully time positions in the new budget – a highway safety officer position that was previously funded by a grant and a position that had been split between the treasurer’s office and the Justice of the Peace Precinct 1&2 office. 

Commissioners will hold public hearings on its proposed budget as well as the tax rate on August 24 at 9 a.m. See the public notice in this week’s Enterprise for more information.

August brings annual public notices to the pages of your local newspaper as local governments prepare to set their budgets and tax rates for the coming fiscal year.

Last week’s Enterprise included a small taxing unit notice for the Donley County Hospital District, which will hold a tax rate meeting at 5:30 p.m. on August 18 at 3 Medical Drive.

Clarendon College is advertising a tax rate hearing on August 20 at 5:30 in the VIP Room of the Bairfield Activity Center followed immediately by a budget hearing at 5:45 p.m.

Donley County will hold a public hearing in the Commissioners’ Court Room on its proposed tax rate and budget at on August 24 at 9 a.m. The county is also giving notice this week of the proposed increases in elected officials’ salaries.

Clarendon CISD is giving notice that it will hold a hearing on the school’s proposed budget and tax rate on August 25 at 6 p.m. in the Administration & Technology Building.

Hedley CISD will begin advertising next week that its budget and tax hearing will be on August 27 at 6:30 p.m. in the superintendent’s office.

There are other pulic notices in this week’s Big E Classifieds, so informed citizens will want to check those out and see what is happening in Donley County as well as neighboring counties. 

Public notices inform citizens about their governments and are important to holding elected officials accountable. Citizens are urged to read the Enterprise each week to keep up with these important public notices.