Gary Barber Quotations

I'm a strong believer the process will work because Russell George is a charismatic leader from the Western Slope.

Our per-screen average was great (in the U.S.).

We will have two deputies from the Smith County Sheriff's Department who will be here. We have security cameras in both auto registration and the tax office, and they'll be monitoring those, as well as walking around, making their presence known.

Due to the large number of new oil and gas wells in Smith County for 2005, all the tax information was not available when the tax roll was certified. The Smith County Appraisal District has supplemented the new mineral accounts. This value has been added and tax statements have been mailed and payments are now being received.

If you have a check, you won't have to stand in line. We can come out and take it and mail you a receipt. If you want a receipt immediately, or if you have cash, however, you might have to wait. But there haven't been many lines so far - usually less than four or five people.

If you own property and haven't received a tax bill, please contact our office. By state law, failure to receive a bill doesn't waive penalty and interest.

You can still mail your payment in on Saturday, and new this year, you can pay by credit card on the Internet. If your tax payment is mailed, it has to be postmarked by Dec. 31 to get credit for the 2005 tax year.

All the statements have been mailed, so if you haven't received a statement yet, please contact our office. State law says you're still responsible for the taxes, even if something gets lost in the mail.