POSSUM KINGDOM LAKE ASSOCIATION APRIL NEWSLETTER
Mark Your Calendar
The Annual Meeting will be
Saturday, June 11, 2011, at the Chamber at 10:00 AM.
All volunteer firefighters and EMS personnel
will be our honored guests. Please plan
to attend to thank these volunteers for their efforts.
Fires at Possum Kingdom Lake – Current
Information
Available at www.inciweb.org.
Fires completely surrounded
the lake. The number of houses burned is
above 160 and the land burned is above 150,000 acres.
No lives have been lost. The water
is still blue and summer is just
around the corner. There is a lot of
positive to focus on through all this destruction.
Donations
The outpouring of community
support has been incredible. The donation
of meals, equipment and time has been unbelievable, but as the
rebuilding
process begins and the protection of the lake continues, the true need
is
monetary donations. Below is the contact
information for 3 funds that will serve the needs of the PK Lake. Donations can be made to:
Firefighter
Relief Fund, % PK Chamber of Commerce, 362 N FM 2353, Graford, Texas
76449 or
visit www.ponderapk.com to make a donation automatically through
PayPal. This fund will be distributed to
various
VFD’s supporting the PK Lake area.
PK West Side Volunteer Fire Department donations can be mailed to 4812 Shady Ln. Lot 2, Graham, TX 76450. This fund is specifically for the West Side VFD which is a 501-C-3 entity therefore the donations are tax deductible.
PK East Side Volunteer Fire Department is set up at www.pkeastvfd.org for donations through PayPal or they can be mailed directly to P.O. Box 343, Graford, TX, 76449. This fund is specifically for the East Side VFD which is a 501-C-3 entity therefore the donations are tax deductible.
PK Lake Association
The PKLA has worked closely
with the Volunteer Fire Departments to help meet their immediate needs
for
urgent equipment repairs and will continue to do so.
Many members of the PKLA volunteered their
time to feed the firemen, DPS, United Coop employees, Sheriff and
deputy
Sheriffs, and others helping to control this situation.
They have played an important role for this
community
FERC Request for Decommissioning
BRA completed the draft application
to authorize decommission of the generating facilities at Morris
Shepard Dam,
while retaining the existing dam and continue the water management. The
draft
was sent to other state and federal agencies on March 23, 2011, for
comment. These agencies will have 60
days to respond. BRA will then submit
the application to FERC for consideration.
BRA Board Meeting April 18,
2011 – The following
agenda items related to PK:
Agenda item 6-The board came out of executive session and passed
a resolution to retain the current commercial lease rate until the BRA
Hydro-Electric surrender application is formally acted upon. The board
also voted to reduce Hydro-Electric staff by one position, powerhouse
by two positions and continue reduction through attrition of core staff.
Agenda item 7- The
Board passed the Possum Kingdom, Granbury and Whitney Water management
plan. This plan will use a drawdown ratio
of 1.75(PK):1(Granbury) when the elevation of PK is above 992 ft. and a
drawdown ratio of 1:1 when the elevation of PK drops below 992 ft msl.
Deadline to Protest
Palo Pinto Property Taxes is June
1,
2011 April 1, 2011, the Palo
Pinto
Appraisal District began sending property
tax
appraisals to owners and all notices should be mailed by May 16, 2011. Your
deadline to file a protest of your property taxes with the Palo
Pinto Appraisal Review Board ("ARB") is June 1, 2011.
If
you
own and occupy your home as a principal residence, are 65 and
older, are
disabled, or a disabled veteran, you may qualify for certain
exemptions. Exemption applications are due April 30, 2011.
Please
review your notice of appraisal carefully, and consider whether you
should file
a protest with the ARB and/or whether you should file for an
exemption.
With divestiture, deeded acreage may have changed for many
homeowners.
Additionally, the fair market value of properties may have also
changed. You
may obtain information regarding your appraisal at www.palopintocad.org. For
information
regarding how to file a protest, go to the following website for the Texas State Comptroller of Public Accounts: http://www.window.state.tx.us/taxinfo/proptax/basics/
Property Taxpayers’ Bill of Rights
1. You have the right to equal and uniform taxation.
2. You have the right to ensure that your property is appraised uniformly with similar property in your county.
3. You have the right to have your property appraised according to generally accepted appraisal techniques and other requirements of law.
4. You have the right to receive exemptions or other tax relief for which you qualify and apply timely.
5. You have the right to notice of property value increases, exemption changes and estimated tax amounts.
6. You have the right to inspect non-confidential information used to appraise your property.
7. You have the right to protest your property’s value and other appraisal matters to an appraisal review board composed of an impartial group of citizens in your community.
8. You have the right to appeal the appraisal review board’s decision to district court in the county where the property is located.
9. You have the right to fair treatment by the appraisal district, the appraisal review board and the tax assessor-collector.
10. You have the right to voice your opinions at open public meetings about proposed tax rates and to ask questions of the governing body responsible for setting tax rates.
11. You have the right to petition a local government to call an election to limit a tax increase in certain circumstances.
12. You have the right to receive a free copy of the pamphlet entitled Property Taxpayer Remedies published by the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts.