The Rio Grande Herald (Rio Grande City, Tex.), No. 42, Ed. 1 Thursday, August 13, 1987 Page: 1 of 12
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Specials,
Page 10
THE RIO GRANDE
Serving Starr County For Five D<
H.E.B.
Inserts
Inside
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Published in Rio Grande City, Texas, Every Thursday By The Rio Grande Publishing Co.
IStili
Wi. 42 THURSDAY, AUGUST 13,1987
FIFTEEN CENTS
Budget Workshop Held
m
*i
c
RGCCISD Reappraisal
94 Percent Complete
By KENNETH ROBERTS
The Board of Directors of the
Starr County Appraisal District, at
their regular monthly meeting
Monday night, was told by the
Chief Appraiser that the field work
is complete in the San Isidro and
Roma school districts, and 94
percent finished in the Rio Grande
City CISD.
Also at Thursday's lengthy meet-
ing, a budget workshop was held in
which the board members worked
through the proposed document to
work out a budget to present at the
public hearing in September. Three
of the five entities with repre-
sentation on the board can veto an
Appraisal District budget.
Expressing the most concern
about the speed of the re-appraisal
were officials of the Rio Grande
City CISD.
Superintendent Dr. A.E. Garcia
said, "We have to have our budget
by Aug. 20. We have to have our
values certified. We cannot set a
tax rate until we have the values.
We are concerned; this is late in
the year."
RGCCISD Business Manager
Romeo Lopez commented, "We
recognize the problems in
terminating the reappraisal This
delay has caused a hardship on us;
our mandated date is Aug. 20 "
The RGGC1SD will be holding a
public hearing on Tuesday, Aug 18
at 7 p.m at the Multi-Purpose
Center to consider adoption of a
budget and tax rate for the 1987-88
school year.
Chief Appraiser Ricardo Diaz
responded, "Certified values will
be available about Sept. 15. We are
feeding our information into the
computer. We must give taxpayers
20 days notice to file a protest (if
desired),"
Diaz continued, "We have been
working hard to complete the
reappraisal. We are 94 percent
through with Rio Grande City. One
hundred percent of San Isidro has
been certified. Roma will be heard
(by the Board of Review) on Sept.
1."
Board member Arnoldo Gonzalez
asked the RGCCISD superin
tendent, "Have you ever been late
in setting the tax rate?" Garcia
responded, "Yes, but then the
values were certified."
Gonzalez suggested, "Deliberate
speed is what's needed," to lessen
the possibility of unnecessary and
critical mistakes
Diaz insisted, "We had not had a
reappraisal since 1982. That's the
first thing the board ordered me to
do. We have $35,000 parcels in the
county; it's a tough job It took me
five weeks to complete the com
mercial properties. Field work is 94
percent complete in Rio Grande
City."
Attorney David Guerrero said,
"The Appraisal Review Board
certifies the values. Legally, there
is no way to certify the values by
Aug. 20."
Guerrero agreed with a sugges-
tion by Gonzalez that legal counsel
send a letter to taxing entities
explaining the Appraisal District's
situation with the reappraisal A
motion by Gonzalez to that effect
passed unanimously.
RGCCISD board member Eloy R.
Garcia questioned Diaz, "Did you
understand, when you began the
reappraisal, that we needed these
figures by Aug. 20?"
Appraisal Board member Arnulfo
Garcia said, "This board set a
timetable for March 1988 (original
ly). We hired temporary help
because we wanted it completed in
1987 "
Diaz indicated that, according to
preliminary figures, mineral valua-
tions have declined approximately
$98 million from the previous year,
with the San Isidro ISD losing
about $48 million.
Diaz told the County Commis-
sioners on Monday that "this year
oil and gas is footing 42 percent of
the burden," compared with 55
percent the previous year.
At Thursday night's meeting,
Diaz said that "there was a
substantial difference in valua-
(See REAPPRAISAL, Page 5|
Commissioners Discuss
Budget Situation
The County Commissioners, at
their regular monthly meeting
Monday, discussed what the budget
situation is likely to be when the
fiscal year ends Sept. 30.
County Auditor Jose Guadalupe
Villarreal evaluated the situation
this way, "We will get at least
what you projected (in revenues)
when you amended the budget,
maybe with a surplus of $20,000 to
$40,000 Vou amended the budget
with a deficit of $143,000."
Villarreal predicted, "I estimate
the budget deficit at $90,000 to
$100,000 at the end of the year,
unless something drastic happens,"
such as a dramatic and unexpected
increase in revenue."
The auditor continued, "You
have improved the budget
tremendously since January. But
your work is not complete "
The auditor indicated that the
District Attorney's office has a
deficit of at least $10,000, and said
that the D A has been informed
that a payroll for the pffice will not
be prepared for September, with
the shortfall being made up in the
next fiscal year
He warned that at least a couple
of commissioners stand a chance of
running out of money in their
budgets before the fiscal year ends
Precinct Two Commissioner
Amando Pena contended, "Under
the circumstances, we have done a
tremendous joh The detention
center if raising more and spend-
ing lessi. The bridge is raising
much more money More delin-
quent taxes are coming in, and the
tax collection rate will exceed 85
percent "
County Judge J M Martinez
stressed, "Unexpected emergen-
Football
Tickets To
Be Available
Football ticket sales will soon
start for the 1987 Rio Grande City
High football season
Season reserve tickets for season
ticketholders only will be on sale
from Aug 19-23 from 1 to 5 p.m.
daily at the Rio High Athletic
Office
Season tickets will be available
to the general public from Aug
24-28 from 1 to 5 p.m. daily at the
Athletic Office
The price for tickets are as
follows Reserve. $4. General
Admission. $3. and Student. $1
(only at the school)
Anyone needing further infortna
lion should contact the Athletic
Department at 487 5591. extension
286
cies can throw this thing out of
kilter. I have never been more
optimistic about a budget as now.
We should come pretty close to a
balanced budget."
All this discussion took place as
the auditor went through the
claims to be paid. A motion was
passed that all claims be paid, as
funds become available Villarreal
suggested that first pr>> rity go to
paying the roadhands, second pri-
ority to utilities, and third to
paving work
Rio Grande City citizen Eliseo
Smith, Jr. then criticized the
commissioners, especially con-
cerning the raising of salaries for
commissioners from $18,000 to
$24,000 in 1985 He argued, "During
that time, the commissioners
raised their salaries about 33
percent They knew the county was
in debt."
As he questioned Precinct One
Commissioner "Chema" Alvarez,
the official retorted, "You did not
protest at that time <in September
1985, about the refunding bonds)
before Judge Garcia. You sat there
and didn't do anything."
Judge Martinez said, "This is a
matter from the past. That fact is
already on the record." Auditor
Villarreal commented, "The time
to raise these questions is when
they prepare next year's budget."
But Smith commented, "Being a
county that is poor, I think $31,200
per commissioner is too much."
Alvarez argued, "All he is after is
politics," and urged that Smith be
declared out of order. The dis-
cussion continued along this line
for a short time, with Martinez
concluding, "This discussion is not
pertinent to the matter at hand."
Chief Appraiser Ricardo Diaz
then discussed the current year's
valuations, with preliminary
figures from the countywide reap-
praisal He noted, "We lost
$98,064,000 in minerals.'' But real
and personal property, due to the
reappraisal, showed a gain of more
than $49 million
Diaz continued, "Now, we're only
$48 million under last year's
valuations, an eight percent loss
This year, oil and gas is footing 42
percent of the burder, with 58
percent of the burden being carried
by real estate and personal proper-
ty "
Diaz said, "These figures should
stand pretty steady. Oil and gas
dropped 29 percent, but real and
personal property rose 18 percent "
Martinez said, "It should mean a
drop of about $300,000 in county-
re venues."
Villarreal told Commissioner
Pena, "Next year, the bridge won't
bring as much revenue. The county
cannot be getting any money until
they pay Roma."
As monies were approved to send
Man Gunned Down On
Highway Near Rosita
A 37-year-old resident of Rio
Grande City was gunned down
Friday morning while parked on
the south shoulder of U.S
Highway 83 near La Rosita.
Guadalupe Saenz Garcia, orig-
inally from General Trevino,
Nuevo Leon. Mexico, was killed
instantly when he was struck by
at least four shots fired by a
motorist in a iwn-tone white
vehicle.
Chief Investigator "Lalo"
Saenz said that "we have
narrowed our investigation to
possibly two people...The killer
and victim knew each other,
apparently."
Sheriff Gene Falcon said that
the probe is turning up some
promising leads, and added that
"we hope to take this case
before the grand jury as soon as
possible."
Sheriff Falcon indicated that
Garcia was shot in the right side
of his head and right side from
about five or six feet away He
added that "the gunpowder was
clearly evident in the clothes of
the victim. He was shot from
very close range."
Justice Arnoldo Gonzalez, Jr.,
pronounced Garcia dead a! the
scene, and ordered an autopsy
to be performed. The autopsy
was carried out by Dr. Ruben
Santos, a forensic pathologist
from McAllen.
According to Saenz, "any of
the four wounds would have
been fatal, according to the
pathologist...They were not
contact wounds." Falcon in-
dicated, "It looks like the victim
sustained two wounds to the
head, and two to the side."
Saenz said that the shots
"were apparently fired from a
stationary position on the side of
the road," most likely from
outside the passenger side of the
vehicle. Falcon commented,
"We know for a fact that the
shots were not fired from a
moving vehicle."
The chief investigator com-
mented that "the shots were
most likely fired from a large-
caliber weapon, possibly a
handgun."
Saenz noted that the Sheriff's
Department was first called to
the sceneat 10:46a.m.
He added that three deputies
arrived six minutes later at the
scene six miles west of Rio
Grande City Saenz stated, "We
found a male subject inside a
1987 Ford pickup with apparent
bullet holes in the side of his
head, and his right side."
At the time of the attack.
Garcia was traveling eastbound
in a 1987 Ford pickup
The chief investigator in
dicated that evidence from the
case will soon be sent to the
Department of Public Safety in
Austin for lab analysis.
;'C
The Hit-
marching,
year.
Grande City Mighty Rattler Marching Band
ecently began practices designed to prepare
pictured above while
for the 1987-88 school
By KENNETH ROBERTS
The Rio Grande City Rattler
varsity football team, soon to begin
their second season in District
31-5A, is building up a head of
steam to try to improve last year's
4-6 season and 2-5 district records.
Rattler head coach Ramiro
Villegas said, "We're looking
forward to a good year The kids
have worked hard and prepared
... rvr i-r ij well The attitude is very good The
OjH'eJUJ >h , age .-> kids are looking forward to having
The Rio Grande City Rattler varsity football team began practices this week in
preparation for the 1987 District 31-5A football season.
a good year; they're very en-
thused They had a good first
workout today (Monday morn-
ing i."
Villegas added, "This year, we
have a lot of varsity experience
returning. We need to keep our kids
health} and improve overall on
offense and defense. We need to
minimize our mistakes in general."
The head coach continued, "They
will have a little more experience,
we'll have a good bunch of seniors.
We'll have more maturity this
year We were forced to play nine
sophomores last year "
Villegas noted that the Rattlers
graduated 14 players, including
nine starters, from last year's
squad."
One change that Villegas hopes
will mean a big year for the
Rattlers is the effort to go with a
two-platoon system, on both offense
and defense.
Villegas commented that in 1986,
"we suffered a lot of injuries, plus
we were the youngest we've ever
been in my years of coaching Last
ye<* r was an adjustment period "
About the district race. Villegas
predicted that Edinburg, McAllen
High, and Mission should have very
strong teams. He added, "The
31-5A district is a very tough
district. All the other teams should
"u: much improved, and so should
w4i 1
out the offensive game plan,
js said. "We'll be running
sc;ne multiple-type offense, mainly
veer We will be throwing the ball;
we'll be doing whatever we need to
put some points up "
Villegas suggested, "Since our
line is a little more experienced,
our quarterbacks should have a
little more time to throw '
The three candidates for the
starting quarterback position are
About
Villas
juniors Ruben Sae i an Eii
Martinez and sophorrv.e Ron-
Ramirez. In 1986, Saer..
quarterbacked the junior varsi-
squad, Martinez led the soph
team, and Ramirez i
signal-caller for the freshn: n
Villegas said that al;
signal-callers are "vit-r
quarterbacks who can thro
ball." Last year, the Rattlers
only able to complete 23 of
passes for 327 yards, and wc-"
victimized by nine interceptions
An important returning start* i
on offense is senior tailback Bob!
Garcia (165 pounds), who earn
99 times for 438 yards Villet.
commented that Garcia "has
ability to be one of the top running
backs "
On the season's first play agains
Donna last year. Garcia bolted <
yards for a touchdown. In i,«u
games, he demonstrated In
explosiveness by breaking runs
59 and 50 yards
Garcia also averaged 35 1 yards
on 26 punts, and returned 26
kickoffs for 509 yards
Ssnior Tommy Martinez 138
pounds) is also expected to set a
lot or action at tailback Villega
descr.bes him as very quick pi 1
aggressive. very tough
(See GRIDIROIV Page4)
RGCCISD Budget
Hearing Tuesday
The Rio Grande City CISD board
of trustees will hold a public
hearing at 7 p m . Tuesday, Aug u
at the Multi Purpose Center
approve a budget for the l9t>7-8.
school year and set a tax rate
Also, the board will consider
possible amendments of the 19Rfi
budget
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Roberts, Kenneth. The Rio Grande Herald (Rio Grande City, Tex.), No. 42, Ed. 1 Thursday, August 13, 1987, newspaper, August 13, 1987; Edinburg, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth195093/m1/1/: accessed April 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rio Grande City Public Library.