Our office will be closed today, February 23, due to an illness. We will open tomorrow.
Category: Information - page 25
Per the HOA’s Bylaws, the Nominating Committee met on Wednesday, February 17, 2015, to nominate individuals to fill the 2 Board positions whose terms end this year. This Committee was Chaired by Jerry Hopper, Board member, and included 3 homeowners, Dr. Bea Beltran, Luis Hinojosa, and Don Ryan. The incumbent Board members, Bobby Gentry and John Moreno, were nominated for re-election. As always, we will take Nominations from the floor at the Annual Meeting.
A day or so after the Nominating Committee met, we had a homeowner who expressed an interest in running for a Board position, so our 2016 Ballots will include:
- Bobby Gentry
- John Moreno
- Karen McCrary
The Annual Meeting will be held on March 31, 2016, at 7PM in the GPMCHA Office.
2016 Election packets will be going out later next week.
There was a vehicle accident this morning involving a pickup truck that sheared off a large tree, took down a Visitor Lot sign, totaled a car parked in visitor lot, shoved it into a fence and pushed a car under the carport towards the home. If the parked car was not there, the truck would have ended up in their home.
This accident happened around 6AM, apparently due to the driver falling asleep at the wheel, after working a double shift. The truck was North bound by all accounts. Luckily, no one was injured, just some property damaged.
IRS Urges Public to Stay Alert for Scam Phone Calls
The IRS continues to warn consumers to guard against scam phone calls from thieves intent on stealing their money or their identity. Criminals pose as the IRS to trick victims out of their money or personal information. Here are several tips to help you avoid being a victim of these scams:
- Scammers make unsolicited calls. Thieves call taxpayers claiming to be IRS officials. They demand that the victim pay a bogus tax bill. They con the victim into sending cash, usually through a prepaid debit card or wire transfer. They may also leave “urgent” callback requests through phone “robo-calls,” or via phishing email.
- Callers try to scare their victims. Many phone scams use threats to intimidate and bully a victim into paying. They may even threaten to arrest, deport or revoke the license of their victim if they don’t get the money.
- Scams use caller ID spoofing. Scammers often alter caller ID to make it look like the IRS or another agency is calling. The callers use IRS titles and fake badge numbers to appear legitimate. They may use the victim’s name, address and other personal information to make the call sound official.
- Cons try new tricks all the time. Some schemes provide an actual IRS address where they tell the victim to mail a receipt for the payment they make. Others use emails that contain a fake IRS document with a phone number or an email address for a reply. These scams often use official IRS letterhead in emails or regular mail that they send to their victims. They try these ploys to make the ruse look official.
- Scams cost victims over $23 million. The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, or TIGTA, has received reports of about 736,000 scam contacts since October 2013. Nearly 4,550 victims have collectively paid over $23 million as a result of the scam.
The IRS will not:
- Call you to demand immediate payment. The IRS will not call you if you owe taxes without first sending you a bill in the mail.
- Demand that you pay taxes and not allow you to question or appeal the amount you owe.
- Require that you pay your taxes a certain way. For instance, require that you pay with a prepaid debit card.
- Ask for your credit or debit card numbers over the phone.
- Threaten to bring in police or other agencies to arrest you for not paying.
If you don’t owe taxes, or have no reason to think that you do:
- Do not give out any information. Hang up immediately.
- Contact TIGTA to report the call. Use their “IRS Impersonation Scam Reporting” web page. You can also call 800-366-4484.
- Report it to the Federal Trade Commission. Use the “FTC Complaint Assistant” on FTC.gov. Please add “IRS Telephone Scam” in the notes.
If you know you owe, or think you may owe tax:
- Call the IRS at 800-829-1040. IRS workers can help you.
Phone scams first tried to sting older people, new immigrants to the U.S. and those who speak English as a second language. Now the crooks try to swindle just about anyone. And they’ve ripped-off people in every state in the nation.
Stay alert to scams that use the IRS as a lure. Tax scams can happen any time of year, not just at tax time. For more, visit “Tax Scams and Consumer Alerts” on IRS.gov.
Each and every taxpayer has a set of fundamental rights they should be aware of when dealing with the IRS. These are your Taxpayer Bill of Rights. Explore your rights and our obligations to protect them on IRS.gov.
IRS YouTube Videos:
IRS Podcasts:
TONIGHT’S BOARD MEETING CANCELLED BECAUSE OF NO QUORUM.
MEETING MUST BE RESCHEDULED.
Our Office will be close at noon tomorrow, Friday, February 5th. We will reopen at 8AM on Monday.
The latest GP Pipeline has a mention of the problem of people putting grease down the drains and the approximate costs involved to fix it. We still have people who flush all kinds of items never meant to be flushed down the toilet, things like diapers, feminine hygiene products, wipes and wads of paper goods.
We have a sewer blockage almost every month caused by these items and, of course, globs of kitchen grease. When we have to call out a high-pressure Jet truck to clear a section of our main sewer lines, it costs the HOA about $800 every time. We also have to expend labor costs to clear out blockages caused by our residents themselves, as well as wear and tear on our powered snake.
Residents need to stop dumping grease down the drain and stop flushing things down the toilets that do not belong in the sewers.
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Don’t Clog the Main, Keep Grease from the Drain
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Cooking oil and grease can clog drains when poured down
 the kitchen sink.Grease blockages are the single greatest cause of sewer overflows in Grand Prairie, which is a health hazard, threat to the environment and an expensive mess to clean.
When the pipe is blocked, raw sewage comes up through clean outs or city manholes, contaminating the soil and waterways. Around 60 percent of your water bill is used to clear clogged pipes. Learn how to help.
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Crime Decrease in Grand Prairie
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The Grand Prairie Police Department is proud to announce the sixth consecutive year of a crime decrease in the city of Grand Prairie. UCR Part 1 Crimes (Murder, Rape, Robbery, Aggravated Assault, Burglary, Theft and Auto Theft) were down 9% in 2015 as compared to 2014. Overall, crime has decreased 42% since 2010 (Violent Crimes decreased 6%; Property Crimes decreased 45%). This six-year decrease translates into 3,382 fewer crime victims in 2015 as compared to 2010.
Since 2010, the individual crime decrease categories are as follows:
The Grand Prairie Police Department attributes these sustained and historic decreases to the hard work of the men and women of GPPD and continuance of the following three-part strategy:
While many factors affect a crime rate, the Grand Prairie Police Department believes their holistic approach to policing, community partnerships and public trust have contributed to less crime and improved quality of life in the city.
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At the last Board Meeting held on December 3, 2015, there were modifications made to the initial Visitor Parking Permits policy. As stated previously, this policy will be modified periodically as required, and in order to properly notify everyone of these recent changes, we will be sending out a letter to all homeowners within the week.
On another note, the towing company is here almost every day now, day and night patrols, and have been towing vehicles parked in the fire lane, with expired registrations, and parking without authorization. They are authorized to do this due to our contract with them.
You can find a copy of our parking rules in the menu above, Governing Documents.