Polk County Enterprise (Livingston, Tex.), Vol. 131, No. 72, Ed. 1 Sunday, September 8, 2013 Page: 1 of 24
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SPORTS
Lions drop to 0-2 after
Dayton matchup,
24-6.
See Page 9 A
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COMMUNITY
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Exile brings classic
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sound to Livingston
See Page IB
The Dominant News and Advertising Source in Polk County for more than 100 years
VOLUME 131 NUMBER 72
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2013
50 CENTS
Burn ban, taxes and truancy on Commissioners' agenda
BY VALERIE REDDELL
Editor
pdtaevw@gmall.com
LIVINGSTON - County com-
missioners will start the day early
Tuesday with a public hearing on
the proposed budget for fiscal year
2014 at 9:30 a.m. The entire budget
is available for inspection online at
www.co.polk.tx.us or at the County
Clerk’s office.
The revenue projection would
raise an additional $1,478,883 in
property taxes, which is 9.101655
percent.
In addition to lost revenue from
the massive population decrease at
the IAH Adult Detention Center,
last year JP Court fines and fees
were down $83,000. At an earlier
meeting Pet. 1 Justice of the Peace
Darrell Longino explained that
some differences in traffic enforce-
ment last year were the end of the
STEP grant (which ended in July
2013) and the opening of a new,
upgraded weigh station in Angelina
County.
The inmate phone revenues at
IAH alone were down by $69,000
in 2013. The per diem revenues
based on inmate population
dropped $288,465,000.
The total of “other revenue”
funds declined by nearly $300,000
last year.
The largest change in expenses
of the upcoming year is related to
a proposed 4 percent cost of living
increase for all county employees.
The departmental budget for
the sheriff’s department notes that
Sheriff Kenneth Hammack refused
the 5 percent COL increase and a
merit increase of 3.5 percent from
his own salary.
During the regular session, which
will begin at 10 a.m. Tuesday, com-
missioners will vote to adopt the
2013 tax rate of $0.6461 per $100
in taxable value, and adopt the FY
2014 budget.
The court also will vote to ratify
the property tax increase reflected
in the FY 2014 budget.
Commissioners will receive,
review and record orders from the
district judges setting compensa-
tion for the county auditor, assistant
auditors and court reports for the
district courts will be set.
The Commissioners Court will
approve an order setting elected
officials salaries, expenses and al-
lowances for the year as previously
published in this newspaper.
The court will continue their
discussion regarding the Constable
warrant service program, including
guidelines and reporting require-
ments. They will also hear a re-
quest from Pet. 1 Constable Scott
Hughes regarding a proposal for a
truancy officer.
also will take up pending busi-
ness related to duties and respon-
sibility for the environmental en-
forcement officer and appointment
of a fire marshal.
■ See COUNTY Page 2A
USD's emergency response plan to be on display at state convention
Long before Spring's knife attack, even
before the shootings in Newtown, local
districts were planning for the worst
BY VALERIE REDDELL
Editor
polknaws@gmail.com
LIVINGSTON - The
tragic death of a Spring
High School student last
Wednesday has plenty
of Southeast Texas
communities wondering if
all precautions have been
taken to keep children safe
on campus.
Long before last week’s
horrible event, Polk
County school district
officials were drafting
all-hazard plans for each
school campus. Livingston
Independent School District
had been scheduled to
make a presentation on the
emergency operations plan
at the Texas Association
of School Board’s annual
Convention in Dallas later
this month.
LISD’s plan began with
the Standard Response
Protocol used throughout the
county, so educators and first
responder will use common
procedures and common
language in the event of an
emergency.
These detailed plans
address not only internal
conflicts between students
— such as the incident at
Spring High School — but
contain and protect students
from more common external
threats such as a vicious dog
in an elementary parking lot.
“If a staff member at
Timber Creek sees a dog
outside and is concerned
it is rabid, we can institute
a 'tack-in' so that no child
goes outside, but school
business goes on as usual”
said Barbara Shaw, Director
of Student Resources.
If a parent arrived on
campus in the middle of
that scenario, they might
find it unusual that the
Big Sandy OKs tax rate
l/V'
BY VALERIE REDDELL
Editor
pdknews@gmail.com
DALLARDSVILLE -
The increasing property
values allowed Big Sandy
ISD to lower its debt
service rate for the 2014
fiscal year.
In a special meeting
called Aug. 26, the
board of trustees voted
to continue the $1.04
rate for maintenance and
operations and lowered the
interest and sinking rate
fiecessary to retire debt to
0.14121. Last year’s rate
Was 0.15 per $100.
I Superintendent Dianne
Holbrook said Friday the
board approved a deficit
budget for the upcoming
year. Enrollment was up
slightly when the district
was required to post its
official notices. Big Sandy
had 502 students last year
and had 511 as of Aug. 15.
Most of Big Sandy’s
budget goes toward
instruction, $2,487,625,
with the next largest
expense area being plant
maintenance, which is
$626,277. Debt service
is a distant third with
$430,213.
Big Sandy allocates
$55,000 for payments
to the Juvenile Justice
Alternative Education
program.
Last year’s tax rate
provided $7,218 in local
revenue per student. The
district received $2,880 in
state revenue per student.
The average market
value of a residence in
Big Sandy last year was
$65,543, compared to
$76,853 this year.
The average taxable
value went from $37,980
to $41,042.
Based on that average
value, the taxes due on
an average residence in
Big Sandy would go from
$453.78 to $485.15; an
increase of $31.37.
children were all inside. But
Superintendent Dr. Darrell
Myers explains that safety is
the top priority. Education is
second when the threatening
situation calls for a lock-
down.
In a full lock-down, all
office and classroom doors
are locked, lights are turned
out and students move to
a location where they are
out of sight. The room is
quiet until law enforcement
or a campus administrator
removes students from the
room.
Two lock-down drills are
held each school year.
Myers stafeach campus
has a “go bag” that contains .
parent contact information
for reunification. If off-site
reunification of parents and
students is necessary, all
administrators will have the
appropriate
■ See RESPONSE Page 2A
PHOTO BY JENNIFER BIRDWBLUUSD COMMUNICATIONS
Livingston Fke Chief Corky records a video to be used for an emergency
management presentation at the Texas Association of School Boards convention in
Dallas on Sept. 26 - 29. The presentation will be conducted (hiring a breakout ses-
sion at the convention. Presenters will be Dr. Darrell Myers, LISD Superintendent
and Barbara Shaw, Director of Student Resources. Cochran’s remarks commend
Livingston ISD on their progressive approach in bringing all responding entities
together. “In any type of emergency, either large or small, we find a unified manage-
ment structure is vital for everyone working together to produce a positive outcome,”
Cochran said.
Rep. White tells Rotarians
budget corrects budget
tricks from last session
liar
ENTERPRISE PHOTO BY Vi
Rep. James White (left) is welcomed by Rotary Club
President Susie Gearing Thursday at Cho-Yeh Con-
ference Center in Livingston.
LIVINGSTON -Rep.
James White spoke to the
Livingston Rotary Club on
Thursday about the budget
finally passed by the Texas
Legislature as well as the
upcoming constitutional
amendment election on the
. Texas Water Plan.
* White said some conserva-
tives are not happy about the
increases in state spending.
The representative points out
that the Legislature inten-
tionally underfunded public
education (only 23 months,
rather than 24) and left nine
months of Medicaid bills
unpaid to balance the budget.
Texas isn’t like Washington,
they must pass a balanced
budget.
“But they have used a lot
of smoke and mirrors to do
that,” White said.
Often they do that using
the balances in dedicated
funds — things like tainting
permits or the $1 you donate
from your utility bill.
“My grandmother would say.
‘Boy you're up there lying’,”
White said.
“There is still about $4.4
billion in dedicated funds,
but all that money doesn’t go
to the dedicated purpose. If
we don’t want it to do to the
dedicated purpose, we need
to just ask the folks to stop
taking that money up,” White
said.
White was elected to the
Texas House from his previ-
ous job as a government and
economics teachers. Al-
though teachers love to give
tests he was happy to report
that the legislature reduced
the number of mandatory
standardized tests from 15 to.
“Some superintendents
would have been happy with
two, but I let them know
there was going to be a social
studies test,” White said.
Funding for public schools
rose over $6 billion over the
next biennium — raising the
per student revenue for the
poorest districts by about
$370 per student.
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Reddell, Valerie. Polk County Enterprise (Livingston, Tex.), Vol. 131, No. 72, Ed. 1 Sunday, September 8, 2013, newspaper, September 8, 2013; Livingston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth658485/m1/1/?q=Homecoming+queen+1966+North+Texas+State+University: accessed July 1, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Livingston Municipal Library.