5/5/2023 0 Comments Comanche county assessor![]() ‘Instability’: Hundreds of Oklahoma property tax protests leave schools in limbo by Megan PratherĮach year, county assessors determine the value of property within the boundaries of each school district, which is used to calculate the funding for county schools. Located about 17 miles west of Lawton, Cache is a town of about 3,000 people whose sprawling school district along Cache Road is a draw for Comanche County residents. ![]() ![]() “My team and I have met and implemented several new due diligence steps to prevent anything like this from happening again.” “It’s unfathomable that one simple clerical error could cause a situation like this and be overlooked for so long, but that’s the reality of the situation and I am so sorry to everyone,” Edwards said. Shortly after the publication of this article, Edwards provided a statement ( embedded below) explaining how the error was made. “Unfortunately, it will have a decidedly negative impact - one that the school board and district officials are unable to correct or control.” “We have invested the last two weeks in better understanding this unusual situation and determining how this will affect our school district and local taxpayers,” Hance said. Superintendent Chad Hance discussed the situation in a statement posted today on the district’s Facebook page. The over-valuation of property within district boundaries means the district would not collect enough taxes to pay off the bonds without raising the rate paid by property owners. The district has also been paying off existing bonds totaling $7.2 million from 20 packages that voters approved.ĭistricts use anticipated property tax revenues to secure financing through bond issues for building and transportation projects. The March 2021 mistake was not reported to the school district until June 2022, about four months after voters had approved two new bond packages totaling $36.4 million for Cache Public Schools. The various links below provide access to a number of searchable public records and documents including land records and deeds, birth, death and marriage records, inmate records, election records, divorce records, and more.Community members within the Cache Public Schools district will see an unexpected property tax increase of about 15 percent this year owing to a clerical error that misstated the community’s assessed valuation by about $51 million.Ĭomanche County Assessor Grant Edwards notified the district that a mistake was made in the figures that were gathered, certified by the Comanche County Excise Board and reported by his staff for 2021. The city of Lawton is home to 80 parks and recreation areas including three major lakes. The largest private sector employer is Goodyear Tire and Rubber County. The largest government employer in the city is the Fort Sill Military Reservation. With a population of 96,867, the city is the fifth largest in the state. Of the three cities and seven towns in Comanche County, the city of Lawton is the largest city, and county seat. Its economy is primarily centered on government, manufacturing, and retail trade industries. The county's topography is generally flat with gently rolling hills. Six counties border Comanche County, they are Kiowa County, Tillman County, Cotton County, Stephens County, Grady County, and Caddo County. It was founded on July 8, 1901, and named for the Comanche Indian tribe. It is located near the southern border of Oklahoma on former Indian reservation lands. Comanche County is the fourth-most populous county in Oklahoma. ![]()
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