Commissioners sponsor youth rodeo, update maps

Churchill County commissioners sponsored the Fallon Junior Rodeo and funded updates to the assessor’s plat maps Aug. 1.

Commissioners approved $2,070 to support the Fallon Junior Rodeo taking place over Labor Day weekend. The group received less than the $3,000 requested on the application due to the county’s 31% reduction of the community support budget. The donation will go toward purchasing the five $1,900 prize saddles.

Jennifur Peek, rodeo secretary, said all of the contestants are under 18, and they and their families come from all of the western states. Six events including a queen contest happen throughout the weekend. Peek said this is where an introduction to rodeo and the responsibilities involved in caring for the animals starts.

“There’s no day that’s too hot or too cold or too windy that you don’t have to go take care of your animals,” Peek said. “My oldest son, Jarrett, won his first saddle at the Fallon Junior Rodeo and he just ended up 11th in the world at the high school finals.”

Commissioners also approved spending $277,343.75 over seven years from the assessor’s technology fund for Pro-West & Associates to update the county maps. The assessor is required to prepare, possess and maintain a complete set of maps for all parcels in the county. The current maps were created in the 1980s with AutoCAD software.

“This project will create a visual genealogy in the GIS parcel fabric map that will evolve over time and will be a valuable resource to the county,” Assessor Denise Felton said.

The project will be completed in three phases: creation of the county boundaries using the U.S. Public Land Survey System; creation of most of the parcels using the original source documents, such as the deeds, parcel maps and records of survey; and re-creation of the maps in the ArcGIS Pro: Map Series software. Any discrepancies between the source documents and the PLSS will be noted on the map for use in future land transactions.

Commissioners also approved a review of the secured log changes for fiscal year 2024-25. Felton explained the assessor completes an annual reappraisal assignment, updates land values and adds all known new construction to the secured roll prior to closing the roll in December. This allows for the most up-to-date values on the assessment notices sent out to all taxable parcels. Any changes made after the roll was closed through June 30 are done in reopen roll and logged. This log of the value changes made from January to June includes new construction, corrections and changes to any personal exemptions.