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December 7, 2001
Want higher rent for those billboards on your land? Jeff Thomas, author of Billboards: The Secrets of Free Money for Doing Nothing, The Coming Landowner Revolution, is trying to organize landowners who now lease space for some 800,000 billboards along American roadways.
His website, www.unitedlandowners.com, contains information
on how to obtain his book. Farmers, he says, are often taken advantage of
because they don't know the billboard industry and have no way of knowing
the full advertising value of the site they are leasing out.
Source: Landowner: November 19, 2001
Japan considers mixing meat, bone
meal in cement
In response to a Japanese health ministry ban on the use of meat
and bone meal for animal feed, officials of the Environment Ministry reportedly
are exploring the possibility of using the powdery substance in producing
cement.
The ban resulted from the diagnosis of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in a dairy cow. The ministry had instructed renderers to burn any meat or bone meal product, but many municipalities say they don't have enough incinerators. An earlier dioxin scare closed a number of facilities.
Officials are considering that the meal be mixed in with
ash, scrap rubber from tires and vegetable waste from food manufacturers in
the production of cement from recycled products.
Source: Animal Agriculture Quarterly,
Fall 2001
Ag advisory board important
in appraisals
Property Tax Code Section 6.12 requires the chief appraiser—with the
advice and consent of the County Appraisal District (CAD)'s board—to
appoint three or more members to an agricultural advisory board. The advisory
board advises the chief appraiser on the appraisal and use of land designated
for agricultural, open space, or timberland appraisal. Some 175 CAD's—one
less than 2000—have active agricultural advisory boards, with a state
membership totaling 667 members.
CAD employees numbered 3,967 statewide, compared to 3,899 in 2000, a gain of 68 full-time positions. Of these employees, about 1,424 are appraisers. The number of part-time employees decreased from 198 in 2000 to 194 in 2001. Some 25 districts employ only part-time appraisers. In some CADs, chief appraisers perform all appraisal work or have contracts with private appraisal firms. A staff appraiser's average salary ranged from a low of $22,818 to an average high of $34,106.
State law requires county appraisal districts to reappraise
property in their districts at least once very three years. For the 2000 tax
year, 167 CADs—66 percent—completed reappraisals, while 129 CADs
planned to reappraise for the 2001 tax year.
Source: Statement, October 2001
Little named as FSA administrator
Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman recently appointed
James R. Little as administrator of USDA's Farm Service Agency. FSA administers
farm commodity and conservation programs, farm loan programs, and emergency
and food aid assistance.
He has been acting administrator since January of this year.
Before accepting the acting administrator role, Little, a native of Charlotte,
NC and graduate of Virginia Polytechnic Institute, was USDA's associate chief
financial officer for financial operations.
Source: AFBF-Executive Newswatch, Oct. 23,
2001
Protect your credit
You can protect your good credit with an annual credit report. Request a report
from any of several major credit reporting agencies. Check it for inaccuracies
or signs of fraud that might affect you when you seek a loan, insurance, or
employment.
Most credit bureaus will charge you $8 to $12 for a copy
of your report. Those agencies are careful to maintain security, so you must
supply some detailed information to obtain the report. You can call one of
the three major credit reporting agencies: Equifax, (800) 685-1111; Experian,
(888) 397-3742; or Trans Union, (800) 888-4213 for a report.
Source: Doane's Management Planner, Nov.
16, 2001
State Government: Expenditures and Revenues
Revenue to the State Government of Texas for the fiscal year ending
October 31, 2001 amounted to $53.82 billion dollars. Sources of revenue to
the state (in billions of dollars) were as follows:
|
Tax Collections |
$27.23
|
(50.6%)
|
|
Federal Income |
$16.02
|
(29.8%)
|
|
Licenses, Fees, Permits Fines & Penalties |
$4.26
|
(7.9%)
|
|
Investments & Investment Income |
$2.06 |
(3.8%)
|
|
Net Lottery Proceeds |
$1.39
|
(2.6%)
|
|
Other Revenue sources |
$2.86
|
(5.3%)
|
State Government expenditures in fiscal year 2001 excluding
trust funds amounted to $52.7 billion dollars. Percentage of net expenditures
by function (amounts in billions) are as follows:
|
Education |
$20.09
|
(38.2%)
|
| Health & Human Services |
$18.02
|
(34.2%)
|
| Transportation |
$4.52
|
(8.6%)
|
|
Public Safety & Corrections |
$3.16
|
(6%)
|
| General Government |
$2.01
|
(3.8%)
|
| Employee Benefits |
$2.00
|
(3.8%)
|
| Natural Resources/Recreational Services |
$1.08
|
(2 %)
|
| Debt Service-interest |
$.64
|
(1.2%)
|
| Capital Outlay |
$.57
|
(1.1%)
|
| Other |
$.58
|
(1.1%)
|
Source: Annual Cash Report, Vol. One, Summary of financial information for the year ended August 31, 2001, TX Comptroller's Office, page 20 & 24.
