Austin American-Statesman from Austin, Texas • 74

Austin American-Statesman WILLIAMSON COUNTY THIS WEEK Thursday, August 19, 2004 LEANDER: Parks, road projects planned Leander budget plans installed $4 9 taftalW (mqM vinyls" These numbers represent a working document and could change before final approval in September. Proposed budget expenditures: $8.84 million in general fund revenues, plus $12.87 million in bond money for capital improvements. Proposed 20042005 tax rate: 55.66 cents per $100 of property value. Effective tax rate (tax rate that would have generated the same amount of tax revenue that was generated last year): 54.01 cents per $100 of property value. This year's average tax bill: For the average-value home, valued at $125,092 this year, the tax will be $696.29 without exemptions.

Last year's average tax bill: For the average-value home, valued at $120,376, the tax was $672.34, without exemptions. Major changes: A 5 percent raise for city employees, $100,000 for street maintenance, $23,700 for police and fire department certification pay. The bond money will also pay for a $3.24 million city li-. brary, $4.6 million in street, drainage and storm sewer improvements, $1,185 million in public safety improvements, including a new fire station and $2.96 million worth of renovations to the city's parks. Hearings: The next hearing will be 7 p.m.

Aug. 26 at Pat Bryson Municipal Hall, 201 N. Brushy St from new management: Both Johnson and City Manager Biff Johnson (no relation) joined the city this year. "We've tried very hard to create a document that people can read and understand," Biff Johnson said. "The last budget was just different." Different accounting methods this year also disputed a common Leander axiom: The city-owned Golf Club at Crystal Falls, long thought to be in the red, is actually a money-maker this year.

Accounts show that the golf course turned a $54,000 profit this year, although the profit is used to pay down bond debt on the facility. "After it's paid for, will it lose or will it win?" Biff Johnson said. "It's winning." Looking at previous budgets and current trends in the city, there's one thing both say is reflected. "I think the city's in a good position and experiencing a lot of growth," Sharon Johnson said. apowellstatesman.com; 246-0030 Continued from Page 1 per $100 of assessed value from last year's 55.85 cents.

For the owner of an average-value home, whose appraisal jumped from $120,376 to $125,092 this year, that spells an increase to $696.29, from $672.34 last year, in the city tax bill. City Finance Director Sharon Johnson said the average figures don't necessarily reflect the situation of each Leander homeowner. "The average home did (increase in value), but some of those values went up and down," Johnson said. Rising appraisals and continued growth have added $79.76 million in taxable value to the city's tax rolls Mayor John Cowman said, "The rate remains stable, and we're providing excellent service." This year's budget differs noticeably from last year's, which was prepared differently. For that reason, comparing last year's $4,639 million budget to this year's doesn't work, Cfl 9 9 9 mm bosm IB Sprvinp Original Thai German Food Luncn umner Johnson said.

"We are using a more municipal-type accounting, where previously we had a more private-type accounting," she said. "It's like comparing apples and oranges. They're both correct; it's just a matter of how you're accustomed to doing it." This year's budget benefits Open 6 Days Closed Sundays (512) 869-4100 1201 Church St. Georgetown HISTORY: Book is a treasure trove of county lore MARKET WINE SPIRITS 'It is one of the most heavily used books we've got. We refer a lot of people to it who are interested in Williamson County history.

Chip Hadley Technician at the Round Rock Public Library who worked there who said, I'm not supposed to do this, but I'm going to take you down to the she remembers. In the archives she found a folder of old maps and letters from people applying to get post offices in their towns. Much of the information helped her assemble one of the key features of her book, a list of almost 400 communities, their founders, a description of businesses, and other information about places such as Mozo, Jenks Branch and Gravel Hill. A popular reference The importance of her re (Largest Selection Best Prices) fag search is evident in the copies of Round Rock's Quality Liquor Store IH-35 FM620 310-0486 flooded. "My father decided not to try to cross it," Scarbrough said.

"We got out and started walking, with my mother holding me and my brother by the hand and my father carrying my sister on his shoulder." The family made their way to a store, where they spent the night. "During the days after the flood, you could see houses and trees floating. A lot of people drowned, including families of Mexicans who had come to pick cotton. It was very sad." Travel and research In addition to calling up her own memories and studying records, Scarbrough traveled across the county, talking with the elderly. "And I went to many cemeteries in the county to get names of long-time families," Scarbrough said, "We looked for remnants of towns.

Some of them are on private property, but I would get permission from the landowner. I told them it was for a book, and they were perfectly willing to let me go in." Her marriage to Don Scarbrough, a newspaperman from Taylor who bought Georgetown's Williamson County Sun in 1948, also helped. Scarbrough, who died three years ago after 40 years in journalism, believed that newspapers should publish vigorous editorials. His influence in the county earned him the political friendship of President Lyndon Johnson. The Scarbroughs were invited by the president to a White House luncheon in 1968.

The trip gave Clara Scarbrough a chance to do valuable research at the National Archives. "There was this very nice man "Land of Good Water" found on library shelves in the area. The book sells for $35 in hardback, $25 in paperback, at the offices of the Williamson County Sun, the Hill Country Book Store and the Georgetown Visitors Center. "It is one of the most heavily used books we've got," said Chip Hadley, a technician at the Round Rock Public Library. Continued from Page 1 None of her pioneer subjects requested that she guard family secrets.

"I never had any problem with that," Scarbrough said. "I don't think any of those people had done anything that would embarrass them." Early farm families were indeed gentler and somewhat more God-fearing, according to accounts Scarbrough unearthed during 255 interviews and her perusal of old letters, newspaper reports, college theses and government documents. A little more than a century ago, girls made dolls from ears of corn, leaving the cornsilk on for hair. Boys carved baseball bats out of planks and wound yarn from old stockings into balls. Sometimes they dipped the homemade baseballs in coal oil, set them ablaze and played "fireball" at night.

Youngsters also enjoyed gathering on an old suspension bridge over the South San Gabriel River, making it swing dangerously by shifting their weight back and forth. Scarbrough tells stories about county characters such as the absent-minded Southwestern University professor who on more than one occasion reported to police the theft of his horse and buggy, forgetting that he had left them tied to a hitching post downtown. And then there was Dr. Benjamin Crumley, a respected physician who studied medicine in Paris. In an 1879 issue of the Williamson County Sun, a writer said some Georgetown residents viewed the doctor as "an oddity, because he wore his hair very long." The newspaper reported that at the doctor's wedding dinner, Select Group of Tapestries Chenilles Cotton Prints "We refer a lot of people to it who Cowboy Western Prints was29 Now 523 was $24 Now 199- Was21 NOW 17 Crumley "had his hair platted up and roses stuck about it.

We wish the happy couple a long and prosperous union." Up close and personal Personal stories of real people long dead enliven the narrative of "Land of Good Water" and keep the book from being a just a long list of dates and statistics. The impetus for focusing on personal accounts came from Scarbrough's own experiences. In September 1927, a hurricane caused massive rainfall in Williamson County. Thrall got 38.21 inches of rain in 24 hours, still a state record. Scarbrough, who grew up near Circleville, was 7 years old when the rains began at her family's home.

"My dad came in and said we had to get out of the house," she recalls. "He said, 'Don't try to bring anything; let's just I think the main reason we escaped is that we were in an old Model that rode high off the ground." At one point, the family came to a low-water crossing that was Many other styles, colors, prices! are interested in Williamson County history. And people who research genealogy use it all the time." At 90, Scarbrough has seen many changes in the county. "When I started the book, I probably knew half of the families here," she said. "I surely don't now." Select '8rl (no discount) Fabrics But the people, places, traditions and occurrences that form CHAIR $449 Prices Include RECLINER $499 (Does not include sales tax, I aka 700 spring wort or new cushions) I JurM Select group of tabrics i the county's past still live in the pages of "Land of Good Water." In preserving them for her Fabrics Upholstery d3fa Fabric Bin Window Coverings RESIDENTIAL 4 COMMERCIAL DESIGN CENTER Design Consultation readers, Scarbrough herself has become a part of Williamson County history.

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