Dateline: November 9, 2006

Voters approve freezing taxes on senior citizens

By Roger Estlack, Clarendon Enterprise

Residents in three separate local elections voted to freeze taxes for elderly and disabled citizens Tuesday.

Donley County voters overwhelmingly froze taxes at the county level and for the Clarendon College District.

The freeze passed at the county ballot by a margin of 758 in favor to 420 against, with 49 percent voter turnout.

The vote at the college district was closer but still a clear majority with 371 ballots in favor of the freeze and 259 against it. That election drew only 24 percent of registered voters.

In the third election, the margin was even closer as voters in the City of Clarendon approved freezing taxes in that jurisdiction by only 11 votes. There were 193 in favor of the freeze, and 182 against it.

The City of Hedley did not have an election on this issue, but the Board of Aldermen there voluntarily enacted a tax freeze last month.

With these freezes now approved, the ad valorem taxes on qualified homesteads will become fixed on January 1, 2007, with tax statements that are issued in October of next year.

The tax freeze places a cap on the dollar amount of taxes for those that qualify, according to officials with the Donley County Appraisal District.

“If the tax rate goes down, the taxes go down; but if the tax rate goes up, the taxes can’t go above that ceiling,” Chief Appraiser Paula Lowrie has said. “Of course, if you build a new garage or make improvements, then your taxes are adjusted and frozen at a new level.”

The tax freeze would only apply to declared homesteads and would not apply to business property or personal property, such as cars, boats, and planes.

Each of the entities in Tuesday’s election placed the measure on the ballot after receiving petitions from the Donley County Concerned Citizens in August.

Prior to Tuesday’s election, officials with all three entities had expressed concern over how a freeze would impact their future revenues.