San Jacinto County News - Breakout

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Shepherd ISD staff learn strategies to engage with their students. Courtesy photos

Special to the News-Times

Each campus at Shepherd ISD participated in a Capturing Kids Hearts reboot to start the new semester, during the Teacher Workday on Jan. 3.

The High School team got a few laughs from the role-playing portion, reviewed the components of CKH, discussed ways to greet and interact with students, provide daily affirmations, and reviewed how to support students.

All Shepherd ISD staff members are ready for a fresh start to the 2023 school year and look forward to seeing the smiles on our students’ faces.

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By Tony Farkas
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AUSTIN — Property taxes and education will be the cornerstones of the upcoming session of the Texas Legislature.

The session starts Tuesday, and Rep. Ernest Bailes of Shepherd said property taxes, or more importantly property tax relief, is at the top of the list.

“Property taxes are the biggest thing we still are working on, and we’re looking to get certain caps in place,” Bailes said. “The rates aren’t the issue, but the actual appraisals are.”

Bailes said that property values increased about 14 percent, but the tax rate either remained the same or dropped a little, and for property owners, the math is simple — either you

write the same check for taxes, or you write it for a little bit less or a little bit more.

“You can say you’ve dropped property tax rates for 5 years in a row, but with appraisals growing, you’re still writing a bigger check,” he said.

Bailes also said the state doesn’t do much for commercial property taxes, which can be extremely expensive for small businesses. Those taxes, he said, could go up 75 to 100 percent in a year’s time regardless of the shape of the economy, and people can’t continue to run a business like that.

For education, Bailes said that there is a lot of talk regarding school choice, but in reality, it is a different way of saying a voucher system. However, with state money comes state parameters, and instead of moving state money around, Bailes hopes to level the playing field and make all schools in the state equally attractive.

He also said we need to keep focus on actual education and keep social issues out of the equation.

“The difficult part is that at the state level, we preach local control over schools until we don’t like what the schools do, and then try to tell the schools how to do it better,” he said.

Other items of interest, Bailes said, that particularly for San Jacinto County, it’s inevitable that growth is coming, so he would like to ensure that all growth in the county is positive growth, and that there is enough infrastructure to sustain it.

Additionally, rural broadband is still an issue, as there are a lot of students who don’t have access to broadband in their homes.

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By Tony Farkas
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COLDSPRING — The San Jacinto County Commissioners Court approve a measure left over from its Dec. 14 meeting that was delayed because it was unsure it could be approved with only three attending members.

The item, a request to abandon Webb Road and portions of Carey, Dolive, Kilgore, Lombard and Webfer county streets in Oakhurst, was on last meeting agenda, but no action was taken. At the time, there was concern that since Commissioner Donnie Marrs had left and Commissioner David Brandon was absent, that a small quorum was insufficient to pass the measure.

Other information was lacking, namely the exact portions of the roads to be abandoned, which also gave the court pause; at the time, County Judge Fritz Faulkner pointed out that it was a serious matter to close roads, as he did not want to leave any county resident stranded behind poor roadways.

Precinct 4 Justice of the Peace Greg Magee said that in 1899, the plat of the city of Oakhurst showed a subdivision with several lots, and several roads were placed in the drawings.

Oakhurst was incorporated as a town in 1980 and started closing roads that were not being used; the town disincorporated in 2000 and administration of the roads fell to the county, he said, and since a residents in the area have different ways to access his property, closing the roads will not affect any area resident.

Commissioner Mark Nettuno said he was all for it as it would relieve the county of any maintenance responsibility and moved to approve closing the roads with the proviso that anyone with valid easements can still access the roads.

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Special to the News-Times

THE WOODLANDS — Entergy Texas partnered with local food pantries and non-profits to make the holiday season a little brighter for families in Southeast Texas.

The company donated $105,000, funded by Entergy shareholders, to local organizations to help provide nutritious foods to families in need.

“At Entergy, we are always looking for ways to help our community beyond providing power,” said Stuart Barrett, vice president of customer service for Entergy Texas. “The cost of just about everything is going up, so it’s only right we stepped up our commitment to the ongoing fight against hunger. Our local partnerships help ensure Texas families, regardless of their financial status, have access to nourishing meals, especially around the holidays.”

Local organizations receiving funding include Trinity River Food Bank  (which includes San Jacinto County), Meals on Wheels Orange Community Action Association, United Christian Care Center of Vidor Food Pantry, Meals on Wheels Montgomery County, United Board of Missions Food Pantry, Montgomery County Food, Nutrition & Services for Seniors, Robertson County Care Inc., Brazos Valley Food Bank, Central Baptist Church , LA Walters Ministries, Mission Northeast, SETX Food Bank and Keep Us Fed.

Entergy Texas remains committed to building a better future for everyone through financial support, volunteerism, low-income customer service initiatives, advocacy and economic development.

Entergy employees and retirees also support the places they call home by volunteering their time and talents and through charitable donations to The Power to Care and various community programs.

In addition, Entergy Texas has a number of bill-payment options, including payment extensions, deferred payment arrangements and level billing. For more information on bill payment options and assistance, please visit entergy-texas.com/bill-help.

About Entergy Texas

Entergy Texas, Inc. provides electricity to more than 486,000 customers in 27 counties. Entergy Texas is a subsidiary of Entergy Corp., a Fortune 500 company headquartered in New Orleans. Entergy powers life for 3 million customers through its operating companies across Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.