Burleson Star (Burleson, Tex.), Vol. 18, No. 21, Ed. 1 Monday, December 27, 1982 Page: 1 of 20
twenty pages : ill. ; page 24 x 15 in. Digitized from 35 mm. microfilm.View a full description of this newspaper.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
MICROFILM CENTER
ro »ox 45436
DALLAS .tx 75245
I
14 PAGES IN 2 SECTIONS
MONDAY
EDITION
Vol. 18 No. 21
December 27, 1982
BURLESO
25*
For Mail Delivery
295-0486
Review of
tax mixed
From left to right are contractors Richard Lowe and William Cooper, and bank
directors Jay Darnell. Hunter Pearson. Bob Bransom, Frank Norwood. W.N
Wood. C urt Apel, (ieorge Bransom Sr., Rick Newberry, Loy Bransom. and Jack
Taylor. The directors and the goodwill ambassadors from the Chamber of Com
merce participated in groundbreaking ceremonies for the new addition to the F&M
Bank on Filison St. on Dec. 23. Photo by Terry VI Kvans.
Pastor, coach combined
Crontidbreakinfi Held
For \en F&\1 Addition
Depending on the point of view, the
Burleson sales tax bottle is either half
full or half empty
From the pessimistic point of view , it
was definitely not your basic banner
year for sales tax collections The city s
total amount tor 1982 was up only 2 77
percent over last year That figure
doesn't compare too favorable with the
ft H percent gam for the state as a whole
But from a more optimistic \ lew
point, the year finished strong almost
2a percent ahead of last December
Since the initial phases of early
Christmas shopping normally show up
m the December sales tax refute
check indications are that Christmas
sales will start ItiHlt figures off with a
ho. .si
IMF 111st KMKKIt S M.ns tax check
received recently tiy the City of
Burleson was tor $23.HOC or about
$6 alio more than last December s check
for $27,220 That gam is significant
because it represents just over half of
the 1982 margin o\er ItiHI
In 1981 the city received $4 >4 171 m
sales tax rebates while this year's fmu 1
f ig;11re was $400 707
In keeping with the optimistic view
point 1982 actually would have made a
good showing just to keep up with the
I'lHI pace That year was a boom year
for sales in Burleson, outstripping the
previous year by about 2.0 percent and
w ell over double the statew ide average
This y ear has definitely had its ups and
downs but the ups have been good ones
Two of the top three record years for
sales tax rebates have come during
P482 Fast February’ s check of just
under $07 000 was the highest the citv
has ever received and the August check
of $67 462. was ’he city s third largest
And despite the fact that lung finished
with only about a $12 Too gain over 1 f*K 1
it was still another record year and a
strong rally toward the end of the year
Iwunts toward another good year in
i tm.3
WOTIIKK I \< Hilt which may
have influenced the loeal increase in
sales lax revenue is (hat except for the
The Seventh day Adventists have fil-
ed a class action suit in 249th District
Court in Cleburne against Johnson
County, Central Appraisal District of
Johnson County, the city of Burleson,
and the Burleson Independent School
District
The religious order is attempting to
retain its tax exempt status on certain
properties, which became taxable
under a new properly tax code that
went into effect Jan 1. 1982
Seeking the exemption are the
Southwestern Union Conference Corp
of Seventh-day Adventists' regional
headquarters located on 6 6 acres at 777
Burleson Blvd, the Texas Conference
Association of Seventh-day Adventists'
state headquarters, Adventist Book
Store, and "Hour of Prophecy'1 radio
broadcasting station located in Keene
The group has filed a total of five
lawsuits against the county's taxing
agencies claiming that certain parts of
the state's new property code are "un
constitutional'' because they have been
administered in a "discriminatory"
manner
The plaintiffs claim SDA is a
religious non-profit corporation
organized under the laws of Texas and
mid cities area. Fort Worth and Tar
rant County area sales were generally
below other major markets in Texas
Fort Worth received a $16 million
check in December bringing its total
for the y car up to $27 million, but that's
only 4 2 percent ahead of 1981
With that phenomenal mid cities
grow th Tarrant County was able to ex
ceed the state average with a 9 .74 per
cent gam ovor 1981
The southern part o! the county didn’t
particularly join m that success story,
though, as both Crowley and Kverman
actually showed declines over last
year Forest Hill and Kennedale. two
other cities toward the southern end of
the county also declined
Statewide c.unptroller Bob Bullock
recenllv -ent $42 I million to 973 Texas
cities ,e their share of the one percent
city sale' tax tor December The 1982
statewide total m up 8 8 percent over
the 1981 year end total This payment
reflects taxalde sales made in October
and reported to the state bv the end of
Nov ember
l I KIM BNK M \S t I’ I i.i percent
ever last ye ir with year-end figures of
$1 up; 247 Kxi ept lor Burleson and
t'lehurne. no other Johnson < ountv citv
had sales tax re'sites of as much as
$.711,000 I he county as a whole had sales
tax lobules o| us nan h us $3(1,000 The
county as a a hole had sales tax rebates
01 $1 i m II on divided among in cities
That was 2 89 percent mare than last
year
API. ugl ill luroaks didn t receive a
rebut, a I a . ember that city still had a
gain ol .7; percent over last year
Joshua was '13 percent ahead n( last
years pace while Kin Vista and Venus
were well below last year s figures
Area iti* s and the amount each
IWPiveri in the December rebate and
the year s total are amounts rounded
to nearest dollar, comparison with last
year m parenthesis
Hillsboro, $22,316 $318,066. up 8 2
percent Itasca. $668 $24,741. down
2 im percent Granhurv. $25,297
$324,199. up 28 88 percent i. Alv arado,
See Rev iew . Page 2 \
should be exempt from payment of ad
valorem property taxes 1 by reason of
the First and Fourteenth Amendments
of the F S Constitution and the Texas
Constitution "
The plaintiffs petitioned that the new
tax code violates the First ifree exer
cise cf religiom and the Fourteenth
Amendments
The Southwestern Union Conference
Corp of SDA, governing the states of
Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Uouisiana
and New Mexico, is also seeking a
declaratory judgement to be exempt
from paying taxes on its corporate
headquarters because, they state, the
office building is also used for religious
services And morning worship ser
vices are conducted five days a week
within the building
Attorneys for SDA include Burleson
Attorney David Coggin, Lee Boothby, a
constitutional lawyer from Washington,
I)C , and Glenn Carter of 777 S
Burleson Blvd.
James Hallman of Cleburne and C
David Fielder of Arlington are the legal
defense for CAD
Taxes on the properties in litigation
amount to approximately $80,000 to
$100,000, according to CAD records
By TKKKV M F\ \VS
It was just going to be a visit to see
what the life was like w hen Ercel Lew is
spent a few days with a missionary in
Victoria Mexico in 19418 But. during
John Fils sermon the first night, Lewis
said, the Lord called
I thought of nothing else but going
hack there for the next four years,
Lewis said That church had a palm
leaf roof, mud walls, and a dirt floor
One lantern lit the room that night and
a 55 gallon drum was the pulpit A lady
stood up during the service and quoted
the whole 53rd chapter of Isaiah I knew
the Lord was telling me how hungry
these people were for His word
When he graduated from the Interna
tional Bible College in San Antonio in
1972, that church with the palm leaf
rixif was the first one he pastured
With his wife Cathey, sons Dale and
Paul 12 and 9 years old respectively
and six year-old daughter Stephanie,
Lewis has returned to his hometown of
Burleson tor the Christmas holidays
The family will return to what they now
consider home on Jan 3 "We plan to
stay there for life, or until the Lord
moves us someplace else, because it's
borne." Lewis said "The kids speak
better Spanish than they do Knghsh and
they love il (here We built a home on a
25-acre farm and grow tomatoes cab
bage, lettuce, and other vegetables and
even have a citrus orchard "
LEWIS CONTINUED to minister in
about 50 villages around Victoria until
he accepted a position with the Umver
sity of Anlonomy in September of 1981
and with it a new direction for his
energies
Coaching the university's football
program gives Lewis the credibility he
needs to perform his non
denominational ministry "In order to
touch people in a foreign country with
foreign gospel you need what the Mex
leans refer to as a jmlmirn or handle,"
Lewis said "It's something that gives
you power to do what you need to do
Coaching at the university is my /mIan-
m. It has opened doors for meetings
because we can utilize many rooms on
campus ."
Lewis said that when he started at the
university the football program was a
disaster Students were coming to prac
tice drunk or drinking, smoking
cigarettes, and taking drugs "I issued
rules right away," Lewis said. "There
would he no smoking, drinking, drugs,
or cursing They understood that if they
were caught from then on. they would
pay the price One student told me]
Coach, if you take this away, you've
ruined our whole lives ' They had this
mental image of what a normal univer-
sity student was like and they wanted to
stay in that image "
ANOTHER INNOVATION Lewis
made to the program was prayer before
and after each game The going was
rough at the outset with the new rules
and Lewis was accused by a few of the
players of "trying to make them
fairies " "1 explained that they didn't
need all that junk to be men " An
undefeated season made believers of
the team.
"The thing is,” Lewis said, "it's not
the knowledge of the game as much as
it is No. 1 discipline, No 2 have the
desire to win, and No. 3 after those two
are taken care of, God helps out I've
told them several times, quoting from
scripture: Whatever you put your hand
to, do it with all your might ' When we
were getting ready to play our third
game of the season one of the players
got excited when we were almost ready
to go in and we hadn't had our prayer
Coach, have you forgot'1' he asked. All
of them feel that way now
"About half way through the
freshman season one of the varsity
players asked a freshman piayer if they
were still praying before and after each
game Sure we are.' he said, why do
you think we win We've got connec
lions m high places "'
The university s varsity team is the
number one team and played from
February to May winning six of six
games The freshman season was from
September to November and they won
eight of eight games
MANY PLAYERS are now in Lewis
Christian youth group named Youth for
Christ. The majority of the members of
the group are in high school or college
and many are studying to be doctors,
lawyers, veterinarians, engineers, and
social workers, Lewis said
“These young people will be in impor-
tant positions in a few years and will be
the preaching arm of the gospel in a
government that needs truth and
honesty,” Lewis,said "The economy is
in such a bad way it may never recover
Inflation is already 100 percent and is
exjjected to rise to 200-300 percent The
problem is, everyone wants Mexico to
change but they don’t want it to start
with themselves.”
The people in Youth for Christ have
already begun to show their w illingness
to have change start with them Each
week, young men from the youth group
go to minister in the juvenile hall where
youthful offenders are jailed
"These are six-to 18-year old kids
who have committed some crime from
theft to murder," Lewis said "Our
youth group s ministry is in the form of
singing, puppet shows, and messages
from the Bible Some of the young men
on this team are football players who
have converted The government is
wide open in favor of this ministry and
is asking us to go up into the federal
prison to start services "
THE WEEK before the Lewis family
left to come to Burleson, they shared in
Christmas services for two schools of
special education children and a
government operated old-folks home
"All ministry is done by the youth
group." Lewis said "They gave gifts to
each one they visited and shared the joy
and love of what Christ had given
them "
Lew is may be enjoying the help of his
youth group now. but for years before
his appointment to the university the
responsibility was his alone Working
one village at a time, some over too
miles from Victoria Lewis said, he
would spend 2-3 hours a day twice a
week "I'm not involved with them now
because most of them have their own
churches," he said
The overwhelming majority of
villagers welcomed Lewis’ mimslis,
tint there were some who resented it, he
said T was going into Loma Alta on
mothers' day and four men, who were
obviously hung over, tried to stop me I
drove around them and on into the
village While I was talking to a h;q
tismal candidate, one of Ihe men ap
proached me I thought he was going to
apologize, hut he had a gancho a long
curved knife that resembles a sickle
He pulled it on me and shouted some
obscenities
"MEANWHILE, another of the four
had come up behind me and swung a
machete just missing my head and put
tmg a long dent in the car I took off run
nmg and as I rounded a corner of one of
the buildings 1 saw another mar
waiting tor me w ith a gun He raised the
gun shouting. Tvegothim, and pulled
See Castor, Cage 2A
First-place winner of Christinas Decorating Contest: James Edson home
in Ml. Valley Second and third winners on Page 2R
First Baby Contest
Month-old Ashlee D’Ann and parents Marion and Eleesa Howard o( Burleson re
mind local residents of the Rurlnan Slur'* First Baby Contest. The first Burleson
baby born in 1983 will receive a number of gifts from city merchants. Rules and an
entry form for the First Baby Contest and articles on infant care can be found in a
special section in today's Slur.
Suit filed against
Appraisal District
*
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Moody, James. Burleson Star (Burleson, Tex.), Vol. 18, No. 21, Ed. 1 Monday, December 27, 1982, newspaper, December 27, 1982; Burleson, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth761357/m1/1/: accessed July 2, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Burleson Public Library.