Morton texas dying because....... (West, Panhandle: condo, crime, new house)

[TEXAS RANGER]

.......the water is poisoned? Property taxes are tornado high? The schools are bad and getting worse? Jobs are scarce? Crime is at an all time high? Or is it that it's just plain boring in that part of Texas? Geez....the population in Morton Texas was 2,249 in 2000 and in 2007 it went down to 1,835. What's up??? Ooops...maybe because texas should be spelled "Texas".....my bad.

[case44]

Originally Posted by TEXAS RANGER

.......the water is poisoned? Property taxes are tornado high? The schools are bad and getting worse? Jobs are scarce? Crime is at an all time high? Or is it that it's just plain boring in that part of Texas? Geez....the population in Morton Texas was 2,249 in 2000 and in 2007 it went down to 1,835. What's up??? Ooops...maybe because texas should be spelled "Texas".....my bad.

[txmonkey]

I couldn't agree more.. I have never seen a town so unwilling to contribute to its own existence. Those that run Morton couldn't care less about the water quality, schools, crime or population. This is something that has amazed me for the past 20 years.

[houstoner]

...no one knows where it is?

[txmonkey]

Fact, the City of Morton regularly sends out notices on the backs of the water bills monthly noting contaminants in the drinking water. Five years ago when I lived there the notice was put out on the water bill that a town meeting was to be held discussing any issues the public had with the drinking water supply. The notice on the bill was delivered via postal mail.. the day following the meeting at the Town Hall. The following week it was noted in the weekly newspaper that there must be nothing too concerning with the water supply as near no residents attended the meeting on such the week prior.

[Philip T]

Odd stats from City Data . . . .

//www.city-data.com/city/Morton-Texas.html


Estimated median household income in 2006: $29,600 (it was $25,809 in 2000)
Morton $29,600
Texas: $44,922

Estimated median house/condo value in 2006: $28,500 (it was $22,600 in 2000)
Morton $28,500
Texas: $114,000







Single-family new house construction building permits:

* 1996: 4 buildings, average cost: $37,500
* 1997: 0 buildings
* 1998: 0 buildings
* 1999: 0 buildings
* 2000: 0 buildings
* 2001: 0 buildings
* 2002: 0 buildings
* 2003: 0 buildings
* 2004: 0 buildings
* 2005: 0 buildings
* 2006: 0 buildings
* 2007: 0 buildings

[High_Plains_Retired]

According to the office of the Comptroller of Public Accounts, Cochran County has had in the past some fairly outrageous county property tax rates, e.g., as high as $0.80 per $100 appraisal. However, in 2006 these rates dropped dramatically to only $0.559. That seems really odd. This does not include other aspects of the property tax such as taxes for bridges, schools, hospitals, municipal, etc.

Many of the west Texas rural counties without significant tax bases are literally taxing themselves into oblivion. I speak from the view of a property owner in county adjacent to Cochran whose tax rates for 2008 will make a property tax payer in New England blush.

[Philip T]

I suppose those high tax rates help lead to the numbers saying the average annual income is higher than the value of the average local house. Dunno that I have ever seen that before.

Looks like some real favorable area for Wind and Solar power generation.

[High_Plains_Retired]

Originally Posted by Philip T

I suppose those high tax rates help lead to the numbers saying the average annual income is higher than the value of the average local house. Dunno that I have ever seen that before.

Looks like some real favorable area for Wind and Solar power generation.

Actually, as one who been watching closely for the past few years, property prices on the southern Texas High Plains are as low as one will find in the entire U.S. If anything good can can be said about high property taxes, it's that they have kept the "lid" on most Texas property values, especially in rural west Texas counties. Unlike income taxes that go up and down with one's income and ability to pay them, property taxes go up regardless of income fluctuations. In the case of rural west Texas where property values have increased extremely slowly in the past forty years, property taxes have sky-rocketed resulting in many Panhandle towns with diminishing populations. I myself am now seeking a county with a more profitable tax base than agriculture in which to invest my retirement savings.

Regarding wind power generation, you may know that West Texas leads the nation in the production of energy derived through wind generation. As to solar power, we have over 260 sunny days per year. Also, if any place in the U.S. has the large land areas needed for the development of solar technology, west Texas is idea. However, unfortunately no one like T. Boone Pickens is yet beating the bushes for investments in solar power so I'm not holding my breath.

[catman]

If you look at a Texas Almanac, or just fish around on citydata.com, you'll see that a lot of West Texas towns and counties are losing population. Morton may have problems that others don't have, but losing population isn't unusual.