Dateline: October 12, 2006

Hedley freezes taxes on elderly, disabled

By Roger Estlack, Clarendon Enterprise

Elderly and disabled citizens in Hedley got their property taxes frozen last Thursday during the regular meeting of that city’s Board of Aldermen.

Mayor Janie Hill said city leaders had discussed the tax freeze for two or three months after receiving a petition from the Concerned Citizens of Donley County, calling for an election on the issue.

“We just decided it was the best thing to do because an election would cost us so much money, and we have a limited budget,” Hill said.

An election would have cost Hedley about $2,000, Hill said; and City Hall expects to receive only $17,500 in property tax collections in this year’s budget.

The board voted in favor of two motions. The first was not to place the issue on the November ballot, and the second was to approve the tax freeze.

Alderman Leon Ward was the lone vote against both motions. Mayor Hill said Ward wanted the issue to go before the voters, but the rest of the board disagreed.

“We hardly ever raise taxes here,” she said, “and we assumed it would pass because most of our citizens are over 65. It is just such a minor issue here.”

The freeze will fix the dollar amount of city taxes paid on qualified homesteads beginning with property tax statements that will be mailed out in October 2007. Higher tax rates or higher valuations cannot make that amount go up, but improvements – such as building on to a home – can raise the tax levy.

The freeze does not apply to taxes on personal property, such as cars and trucks.

City Secretary Randy Shaw said Hedley rarely increases its tax rate and did not think the freeze would have much of an impact on the city’s finances.

“We don’t have much of a tax base, so we don’t depend on property taxes too much,” Shaw said. “We depend on utility sales for our income. The freeze will only have an effect if some time in the future the board decides to go up a lot on the tax rate.”

A representative of the Concerned Citizens was scheduled to speak about taxation of personal property at Thursday’s meeting but did not show.

Shaw estimated taxation of personal property accounts for less than 20 percent of total property taxes collected, and Hill said she did not think the city would alter its policy on personal property taxes.

“I don’t foresee us ever changing that in the future,” Hill said. “But I do think we have a lot of people that don’t pay it.”

In other city business, aldermen received the audit report for 2005-2006 from CPA Denise Foster with Foster & Lambert, and the board approved the audit unanimously.