Category: Ellis County

New Mexico gets role in Indiana Jones

New Mexico is putting lots of effort into bringing new Hollywood productions to the state, like the new Indiana Jones.
There are now six sound stages in the state with six feature films in production.
In addition, Sony Imageworks and Lionsgate Entertainment are moving some of their operations to New Mexico.
Currently the state offers a 25% tax rebate on movie productions there.
Funny how Waxahachie has a MASSIVE empty campus (more than 150 acres) that would make for an amazing sound stage/studio but it’s been sold by the county to an investment firm wanting to turn the former Superconducting Super Collider into a Tier IV Data Center.
In fact at least one movie production did some of their filming at the site in the past.
Listen to the full story on NPR.

Can you guess which other movies and TV shows have been filmed in Waxahachie?
From Imdb:

  1. Band (1998)
  2. Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
    …aka Bonnie and Clyde… Were Killers! (1967) (UK)
  3. Breaking Home Ties (1987)
    …aka Norman Rockwell’s Breaking Home Ties (1987) (TV)
  4. Cowboy (1983) (TV)
  5. Fat Girls (2006)
  6. It Takes Two (1988)
    …aka My New Car (1989) (Australia)
  7. Lost Princess, The (2005)
  8. Mangus! (2007)
  9. Missionary Man (2007)
  10. Ollie Hopnoodle’s Haven of Bliss (1988) (TV)
  11. Optimystic (2006)
  12. Places in the Heart (1984)
  13. Square Dance (1987)
    …aka Home Is Where the Heart Is (1987) (USA: TV title)
  14. Strangeheart (2003)
  15. Tender Mercies (1983)
  16. Too High, Too Wide and Too Long: A Texas Style Road Trip (1999)
  17. Trip to Bountiful, The (1985)
  18. Universal Soldier: The Return (1999)
  19. When the Time Comes (1987) (TV)

In addition, within the last two years since I’ve been in Waxahachie, there was a Chevy Truck commercial, several episodes of Prison Break, several music videos and the movie Walking Tall 2 with Kevin Sorbo all filmed in Waxahachie.

County taxes

Now here’s some interesting news from the Texas Comptroller.
The latest numbers I have is for 2005 and I’m not sure if that means 2004-2005 or FY2005 or 2005-2006… but here’s some data on Texas Total County Property Tax Rates:

The Average Tax Rate in 2005 was: 0.531450673
Ellis County Tax Rate was: 0.3499
There were 28 counties with a tax rate below .3499
And 225 counties with a tax rate above .3499
Of those 225, 202 of them were above .4

If I’m not mistaken, our current tax rate is .3495. With the recent bond election, the tax rate is expected to increase between 3 and 4.5 cents or to .3795 or .3945. Even if somehow the bond had been expected to increase the tax rate by 5 cents, the county tax rate would be .3999, or below 4 cents per $100 of property valuation. So while many counties may very well have lowered their tax rate since 2005, if they remained at the same rate or higher, Ellis County will still have a tax rate lower than 202 of the 254 counties in Texas.

Fighting crime with the sound of music

Safer Dallas Better Dallas is hoping to fight crime in the Big D with the sound of music.
Their website, www.saferdallas.net, features “We’re in the Fight Together,” Words and Music By Spencer Michlin and Johnny Marshall.
I’m not sure how it’s supposed to change the crime stats in Dallas but maybe it will drive all the criminals away if they hear it enough.
Who knows?
Apparently the song will be featured in PSA’s online.
Together we can win…

We will win (for our families)
We will win (for us all)
We will win (for Dallas)
We will win!

I don’t know if it would have the same catch, but maybe Ellis County Police Departments can adopt the song with a few changes.

The mission of Safer Dallas Better Dallas is:

The mission of Safer Dallas Better Dallas is to be a communicator and direct conduit to assist the Dallas Police Department (DPD) by:

  • Acquiring new equipment for the DPD
  • Improving recruiting results of the DPD
  • Motivating the Dallas City Council to provide more resources toward crime prevention by offering matching resources
  • Lowering the rate of recidivism of parolees

Inspiring Public Safety Personnel and Dallas citizens to embrace the basic concept that a safer life for any individual is a better life for that individual, and hence a Safer Dallas will be a Better Dallas.

Red Oak News

News from Red Oak is that the city council fired the city manager and city attorney last night.
They fired the police chief a couple months ago after an alleged ticket quota system.
It’s also rumored that the mayor of Red Oak resigned today as well.
Sounds like the Red Oak fire chief may be the most powerful man in the city right now.

WSJ says, “Build at Railway Stations”

Well, maybe the Wall Street Journal doesn’t actually say, “Build at Railway Stations” but they do have an interesting story about smaller towns who are planning big development around transit rail.
Hmmm… smaller towns with transit rail… where have I heard that before 😉
According to the WSJ:

“There’s a lot of research that shows that if the public sector puts money into a transit system, they can expect three to five times that amount in private money” for adjacent development, says Marilee Utter, president of Citiventure Associates LLC, a Denver firm that has worked with a number of cities on development around light-rail systems.
These developments can pay off for cities in several ways. Research shows that the value of commercial and residential properties close to transit stations often rises — and that translates into higher real-estate tax revenues in that area. Economists from the University of North Texas, for instance, found that between 1997 and 2001, office properties near suburban Dallas Area Rapid Transit stations increased in value 53% more than comparable properties not served by rail. Values of residential properties rose 39% more than a control group not served by rail.