Embroiled in a legal battle with Big Spring Refinery owner Alon USA for much of 2008, a settlement reached in late October between the two entities — totaling more than $1.9 million in taxes from the past three years — should help revitalize county coffers in 2009.

However, the money's not quite in the bank yet, said Barr.

“We haven't received a payment from Alon yet,” said Barr. “However, that doesn't necessarily surprise me, as the 2008 taxes aren't due until the end of this month. We've been told the taxes will be paid this month, so we're just waiting right now.

“It's not a do-or-die situation right now. We based the tax rate on what we thought we were going to get, so I'm not anticipating any problems. We have the money to operate for the coming year.”

Commissioners approved a tax rate of .5362 cents per $100 valuation, nearly a nickel above the rollback rate of .4912 cents, in anticipation of the Alon tax money being tied up in litigation.

The final bill — which includes $421,722 for 2006, $666,438 for 2007 and $857,675 for 2008 — is expected to be paid in one lump sum, according to Barr.

And while $1.9 million will certainly be a huge shot in the arm for the county, which has struggled with financial woes for the past several years, Barr said there are no immediate plans for the money at this time.

“When we receive the payment from Alon, we're planning to put it in a reserve fund,” said Barr. “All of our fund balances and reserves have gotten terribly low over the past several years, and we haven't earmarked any of this money.”

Barr said he hopes the payment will allow the commissioners court to do something Howard County residents desperately need.

“It depends on a lot of different things, but the hope among the commissioners and myself is to be able to lower the tax rate this coming year,” said Barr. “If we can get our reserve balances up, that will give us a little more wiggle room.”

According to County Tax Collector Kathy Sayles, the 2006 taxes include $421,722 for Howard County, $1.239 million for Big Spring Independent School District and $208,496 for Howard College. The 2007 taxes include $666,438 for the county, $1.508 million for Big Spring ISD and $394,892 for Howard College.

The 2008 bill for Alon includes $857,675 for Howard County, $1.791 million for Big Spring ISD — plus an additional $117,000 for taxes that were abated by the county and not the school district — and $444,628 for Howard College.

The court also saw construction on the new $11.57 million County Jail begin in 2008, as well several newly elected officials, a fact Barr said is shaping up nicely for 2009.

“We're very much looking forward to opening the new jail in 2009,” said Barr. “A lot of time and effort went into that project last year, and it's really nice to see it all come to fruition. Also, I've never seen a better level of cooperation between the sheriff's office, the county attorney and my own office. It just feels like we're all on the same page now.”

Newly elected Sheriff Stan Parker and County Attorney Josh Hamby took office this month. The commissioners are also welcoming a new face to their ranks, as Jimmie Long took over for longtime commissioner Bill Crooker.

Contact Staff Writer Thomas Jenkins at 263-7331 ext. 232 or by e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it