Underground Water District Raises Taxes
After holding a public hearing which no one from the public attended, the Glasscock Underground Water Conservation District's Board of Directors set the district's new tax rate at .034806 at its regular meeting Aug. 20. The effective rate, that necessary to raise the same revenue as the year before, was .032258. The board approved a 2003 budget of $133,000, based on expected revenues of that same amount.
The board decided to buy a new pickup from Jim Bass Ford to replace one with 82,000 miles. The bid was slightly below that of Ivey Motor. The pickup's $16,000 cost will come from the 2002 budget, creating a deficit of $18,000 that will be taken from the district's reserves, leaving reserves of $134,000.
Major items in the new budget include $58,000 in salaries, $27,000 for weather modification, $13,000 in insurance, $7,000 for travel, $6,000 for electricity, and $5,000 for office supplies and equipment.
Phillips New GUWCD Director
The board cancelled a directors' election, since no position was contested. John Phillips will replace Zane Eoff, who chose not to run again, as the director from Precinct 4 and incumbent Larry Wheat will remain the director from Precinct 3.
All five planes in West Texas Weather Modification Association's fleet are now operational and stationed in Big Lake, Ozona, Midland and two in San Angelo. In July, the planes logged 79 hours of flight time, 33 of which were flown by the Midland plane.