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.

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

With the new system at Champlain, I cannot get Social Security numbers of my students. I can't even accidentally disclose the information. The only people that generally require Social Security numbers are dealing with financial aid.

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.

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.

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.