Taxing newstad 2016
-
Upload
poconnor -
Category
Real Estate
-
view
62 -
download
0
Transcript of Taxing newstad 2016
Volume 3, Issue 5 In God We Trust May 1, 2016
In This Issue:
Armed Forces First............. 3
What’s Been Happening .... 4
A Look Back ...................... 6
New Employees ................. 9
KAB ................................... 10
Contact Information and
Map of Locations ............... 11
Dates to Remember:
Special Inventory Tax
Due………….………..…..10
Armed Forces Day…..…...21
Memorial Day.………...…30
(all county offices closed) Value Protests for Resident Homesteads Due at Tarrant Appraisal District………….31
Ron Wright
The Wright Stuff
A Time to Remember
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 Memori-
al 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, com-
munism, or terrorism. More often
than not that breach is in far away
places under conditions more
difficult and dangerous than many
people care to acknowledge.
Some come back in caskets.
Winston Churchill once ob-
served, “We sleep safely at night
because rough men stand ready to
visit violence on those who would
harm us.”
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
2
Ron Wright
The Wright Stuff, Continued
and our way of life. Sometimes,
they try to kill us, and some-
times, 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 dra-
matic speeches ever put on film.
At the end of the scene he is
escorted from the courtroom to
be formally charged with order-
ing the murder of one of his
men, but first he speaks a defiant
truth:
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
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 state-
ment 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...
“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 back-
bone of a life spent defending
something.”
3
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!
Armed Forces First
DON’T FORGET!!
Value Protests are due at
Tarrant Appraisal District by May 31!!
Tax Office Stats for April 2016
Motor Vehicle Titles Processed
45,983
Property Tax
Accounts Paid
26,930
Property Tax Amount
Collected
$27,575,666
Motor Vehicle Registrations
Processed
68,967
Phone Calls Received
26,162
Newsletter Noncents
Email your answer to [email protected]
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?
Pictured at left: Travis Moore, US Air Force
At right: Carl Vella, US Air Force
May 21
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.
Attention: Resident Homesteads
Volume 3, Issue 5 Taxing News May 1, 2016
4
What’s Been Happening….
Celebrating Opening Day!
Mansfield Office: Shannon Shaw, Chris Neal (also his birthday),
and Manager Karen Edmondson. Property Tax Assessment Department:
Manager Jeff Hodges and Kirby Tibbit. Left: Administrative
Assistant Stefani
Flores and her
husband, Daniel,
enjoy Opening Day at
the Ballpark.
Above: Amelia Rice, Beckie Fernandez, and Andree
Johnson at Employee Appreciation in downtown Fort
Worth on May 3.
Left: Sandra Martin
Employee Appreciation
Day in Fort Worth
Right: Lisa Anderson
Above: Commissioner Roy
Brooks addressed employees.
Above: Charlotte
Tackett
5
What’s Been Happening
Arlington staff
Poly staff
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.
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.
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.
Volume 3, Issue 5 Taxing News May 1, 2016
6
A Look Back…..by Ron Wright
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
Remembering the First Soldiers
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
7
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
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!
A Look Back, cont…..
Ron Wright with County Clerk Mary Louise Garcia and Lake Worth
Officials Mayor Walter Bowen and City Manager Brett McGuire.
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
8
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.
Elvira Simpson, Manager at the Northwest branch in
Lake Worth, won 3rd place in the chili cook-off at
Employee Appreciation on May 3.
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.
We will achieve excellence in what we do by providing accurate, effi-
cient, and timely service consistent with the laws of the State of Tex-
as and the highest ethical standard.
9
What’s Been Happening….
New Employees
Janice O’Neal Customer Service
Representative
Sarah Blackmon Customer Service
Representative
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!
Will Jones Part-Time Motor Vehicle
Amber Bundschu Part-Time Motor Vehicle
Chris Stanley Motor Vehicle
Rebekah Cantu Part-Time Motor Vehicle
Margarita Chavez Property Tax
Speaking of new, check out the newest addition to the hallway of the 1st floor of the Administration Building in downtown Ft Worth.
Volume 3, Issue 5 Taxing News May 1, 2016
10
Leo, Downtown: “Service remained friendly despite complicated matter…”
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
Kameisha Crawford ................... 3
Marcy Hubbard .......................... 5
Kat Woldt .................................. 6
Danny Nichols ........................... 7
Lalania Gaines ........................... 7
Kim Jayme ................................. 8
Theresa Steele ............................ 8
Jan Phillips ................................ 9
Karina Villalba .......................... 10
Amelia Rice ............................... 13
Erika Fitchett ............................. 19
Julia Kelly .................................. 20
Carmen Holloway ...................... 21
Joan Coulter ............................... 23
Customer
service is not
a department,
it’s every-
one’s job.
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!
11
Main Office Building
100 East Weatherford St.
Fort Worth, TX 76196
Phone: 817-884-1100
Arlington
700 E. Abram St.
Arlington, TX 76010
Phone: 817-548-3935
Mansfield
1100 E. Broad St.
Mansfield, TX 76063
Phone: 817-473-5127
Northeast
645 E. Grapevine Highway
Hurst, TX 76054
Phone: 817-581-3635
Northwest
6713 Telephone Rd. Rm. 101
Lake Worth, TX 76135
Phone: 817-238-4435
Poly
3212 Miller Ave.
Fort Worth, TX 76105
Phone: 817-531-5635
Southlake
1400 Main St. Suite 110
Southlake TX 76092
Phone: 817-481-8141
Southwest
6551 Granbury Rd
Fort Worth, TX 76133
Phone: 817-370-4535
Tarrant County
Tax Office Locations
Hours: Monday—Friday
8:00 am—5:00 pm
CONTACT US
817-884-1100
Email Property Tax Department
at:
Email Motor Vehicle
Department at:
Questions about the newsletter may
be directed to
Vickie Doane at
Email [email protected] to subscribe to our monthly newsletter distribution list.
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.
Volume 3, Issue 5 Taxing News May 1, 2016
12