Irion County ISD Board Meeting September 24 2025

Agenda Analysis | Meeting Review | Meeting Documents | Commentary | Last Meeting

The street art this Fall, Hive Mind We Believe, done by the Cheer Team on 4th Street.

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Agenda for this meeting.

A. Agenda Analysis

1. Special meeting: What makes a special meeting special is only that the agenda item has to be addressed before the next regularly scheduled meeting. Note that an open forum has to be on the agenda even for special meetings.

2. 2025 Tax Roll: This will be a quick meeting because all the Board has to do is make a motion to approve the tax "roll" and then vote. There won't be any particular review of the roll, if it is even physically present, as the purpose is to formalize acceptance of the valuation of all taxed properties in the county by the Tax Assessor. The County Commissioners' Court is obligated to do the same, and they do it at their meeting here. I have not seen the meeting for the City of Mertzon just yet, but if I recall correctly it has to be done before the end of September. To my knowledge all taxing authorities have to do the same thing.

   Civics lesson - here is some tax roll history: The Magna Carta in 1215 was the first recognized "consent based" taxation. (The tax roll approved at this meeting is consent based. All taxpayers have a lawful right to challenge their property valuations and to speak up in open meetings on the tax rate.) There were some "rolls" prior to that, but they were records of the king's property and arbitrary levies to fund the king. See also the Exchequer’s Pipe Rolls that were used in England for about 700 years starting in the 12th century.

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B. Meeting Review

1. 2025 Tax Roll, item 3: Pro forma, the roll was approved without discussion.

2. Other things to note: Superintendent Moore is audio recording the meetings, as required by the new state law requiring audio. In time, here is where recordings can be found on the District’s website. Also note that there was still an open forum posted on this agenda, regardless of the pro forma nature of this meeting. Think of open forums this way: if there is a quorum present at a meeting where public business is being discussed, they have to have an open forum.

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C. Commentary

This time of year - late September and early October - is when you should be on the lookout for the Monarch butterflies migrating through Mertzon for their fall journey to Mexico. Look for them where there are flowers and water.

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Copyright 2025 G. Noelke