Farmers and Ranchers Require Agriculture Sales Tax Exemption Number

Written by Randy Watson

Texas Farmers and Ranchers... Have you submitted your application for a Texas Agriculture and Timber Exemption Registration Number? (Ag/Timber Number.) Under a new state law passed by the Texas Legislature in 2011, commercial agriculture or timber producers will need an Ag/Timber Number issued by the Comptroller's office to make eligible sales tax-exempt purchases for their business.

Beginning January 1, 2012 in order to make sales tax exempt agricultural related purchases you must have this number. To claim the sales tax exemption from the Texas Sales tax, the item being purchased must be used in the regular course of business exclusively on a farm or ranch in the production of agricultural products or exclusively to produce timber products for sale.

How do you get your registration number? There are 2 ways to register.

Apply online at www.getreadytexas.org. It's a fairly simple straight forward application. Log in or create an account at the Texas Comptroller Office's "MyCPA" website. Once you have an "MyCPA" account you'll need basic information about your operation, such as business name, description and address, you will need your Social Security number (for internal use only). Businesses registered with the Texas Secretary of State (SOS) (Corporations, LLC's, etc.) will need to provide the file number as well. You can find it using the SOS Taxable Entity Search.

You can print a copy of your confirmation letter upon completion, or write the registration number down. Texas will mail you a confirmation later on the next business day after the application has been completed.

Or you may apply on Paper. If you prefer to apply for your registration number via a paper application, you can do one of the following:
Download the paper application from the Comptroller's website: AP-228 Application for Texas Agricultural and Timber Exemption Registration Number (PDF); or Call 1-800-252-5555 to request that a copy of the application be mailed to you.

Once complete, mail your application to the address provided on the form. Mailed applications may take three to four weeks to process, and you will not receive your number instantly (as you will through the online application). Once your mailed application is processed, you will receive your registration number in the mail.

The following items are always exempt and an Ag/Timber Number is not required:

• Horses, mules and work animals commonly used in agricultural
• Animal life, the products of which ordinarily constitute food for human consumption, such as cattle, goats, sheep, chickens, turkeys and hogs
• Feed, including oats, corn, chicken scratch and hay, for farm and
• Seeds and annual plants, the products of which are commonly recognized as food for humans or animals,such as corn, oats and soybeans) or for fiber, such as cotton seed.

What activities DO NOT qualify and are not eligible for a sales tax exemption?

• home gardening
• horse racing, boarding or training
• trail rides and zoos
• florists or similar retailers who maintain plants prior to sale
• wildlife management and conservation
• hunting and fishing operations, including aerial hunting
• predator control and/or wildlife/livestock
• censuses or surveys
• commercial fishing
• companion animal (pet) breeding and kennels

Who DOES qualify for a sales tax exemtion and is eligible for a Texas Agricultural and Timber Exemption Number?

A person, including a non-Texas resident, engaged in the production of agricultural or timber products for sale in the regular course of business is eligible for a registration number. This number can be used to claim an exemption from Texas sales tax on the purchase of qualifying items. Included for eligibility for registration numbers are persons in these groups

• farmers and ranchers who raise agricultural products to sell to others
• persons engaged in aquaculture and apiculture; (i.e. commercial fish farms or bee keepers)
• custom harvesters
• persons engaged in agricultural aircraft operations, as defined by 14 C.F.R. Section 137.3 (crop dusting)
• commercial nurseries engaged in fostering growth of plants for sale (i.e., growing stock from seed or cuttings, replanting seedlings in larger containers)
• timber producers, including contract lumberjacks

October 2011 San Antonio Real Estate Sales Statistics

Written by Randy Watson

The San Antonio Board of Realtors (SABOR) released their monthly housing report for the month. The October 2011 report indicated that 1349 single-family residential homes sold compared to 1285 homes that sold in October 2010.

“The healthcare, tourism, and defense industries have a major economic impact here, but there are also many financial services and manufacturing companies that provide opportunities for the local workforce,” says Scott Caballero, 2011 SABOR Chairman of the Board. “Eagle Ford Shale is said to bring nearly 4,000 jobs to the area as well. San Antonio’s cost of living supports the healthy economic climate. The steady, affordable housing market is proving to be a major piece of how San Antonio fares overall.”

• 1349 single-family residential homes sold in October 2011.
• $182,304 is the average price of a single-family home, a 1% decrease from October 2010.
• $149,500 is the Median price of a single-family home, a 1% decrease from October 2010.

San Antonio ranked number 5 by USAA and military.com for Military Retirees to launch their second career. Forbes’ 2011 Best Cities for Jobs ranked San Antonio number 4 for large cities.

Market data is compiled by the San Antonio Board of Realtors from the Multiple Listing Service report.

Created Friday, 19 November 2010 14:13

Doing the rounds of various local farmer's markets, special events and festivals over the last year or so around San Antonio has really brought it home to me that there is an incredible bounty of locally-produced and locally grown foods out there. It's gone, way, way beyond just Texas-made wines. Local olive-oil, sheep-milk cheeses, pastas and BBQ sauces, smoked meats and sausages . . . it just never ends, even just keeping to a limit of that which is available within a day's drive of San Antonio. Some of my favorite places and venders are strictly local; that is, you actually have to get up and go there, as mail-order is not an option and - for some of them - the internet is just something that happened to other people.

The Riverside Market in Boerne - on Main Street and SH-46, and the Dutchman's Market in Fredericksburg, on Main Street opposite the entrance to old Ft. Martin Scott fall into this category: Both of these places offer incredible home-made jerky and smoked sausage, and the Riverside also has incomparable brisket and whole roast chicken. Fortunately, some of my favorite purveyors of fine Texas comestibles have that fully-functioning website option. A handful of them are even represented on the shelves of the neighborhood HEB. Like Opa's smoked sausages - they've been firing up the smoke house for sixty years now. The New Braunfels Smokehouse products may not have penetrated quite so far into the local grocery store, but they - like Opa's have a substantial brick-and-mortar physical presence as well as the website for those who simply must indulge in a smoked tenderloin, a whole turkey or a sun-dried-tomato-and-chipotle sausage.

Fischer and Weiser foods - jams, jellies, sauces, salsas and salad dressings are also represented in San Antonio grocery stores; when I first began exploring Fredericksburg, though - they seemed only to be available in various gourmet foodie places in Fredericksburg itself. Their roasted raspberry-chipotle sauce is one of my constant favorites - as well as an answer to the question of what do you get when German and Mexican cooking traditions clash. I've had a bottle of it in the pantry pretty constantly since 1995. I am also pretty sure that I saw D.L. Jardines' smokin' hot salsas and sauces in the HEB also - but they have a website as well, and are available at places like Rustlin' Rob's and other foodie emporiums in Fredericksburg.

RayAnnVentures isn't at the point of being available at the grocery store everyday - they are still doing the rounds of the weekly markets throughout the the Hill Country with their output. Last fall I caught up to them at the Wimberly Market days - and oh, my. Fantastic pickles and jars of jelly that looked like cut-glass jewels, in the home-style two-piece-lid canning jars. Like home-made, only better. (BTW, RayAnnVentures ships homemade jelly and jams overseas to APO/FPO addresses.)

Now, the last provider of specialty comestibles which tickled my fancy at local market-days has succeeded in making the leap to a permanent retail outlet: Shayne Sauce Foods opened a brick-and-mortar outlet in Artisans Alley, on Bitters Road in San Antonio. They do jams, sauces and mustards but their main thing is whole-wheat dried pasta, in every shape and flavored with everything from black-pepper-n-garlic to chocolate, curry-spice and roasted red pepper. And strawberry dessert pasta - which I guess you would serve with whipped cream and chocolate sprinkles. No, I haven't worked up sufficient sense of adventure to try that yet . . . maybe for New Years.

Bon appetite - and go, Texas!

Search online for San Antonio Homes

by Randy Watson

TEXAS "WHOLE WHEAT" ECONOMY

Material herein is published according to the fair-use doctrine of U.S. copyright laws related to non-profit, educational institutions. Items attributed to sources other than the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University should not be reprinted without permission of the original source.

HOUSTON (Real Estate Center) – Add “baked goods” to the list of colorful analogies used to compare Texas’ relatively strong economy to that of the United States. That’s what State Comptroller Susan Combs did at yesterday’s 2012 Forecast Conference in Houston.

“The U.S. has what has been referred to as a ‘Twinkie economy,’” she said. “There are no natural ingredients. [Texas is] whole wheat, if you want to take a look at us versus the U.S. economy.”

Combs was speaking to a crowd of more than 400 business leaders, developers and students at the half-day event, which was presented by Urban Land Institute Houston and the Real Estate Center.

“We are now, as an economy, more diverse than either of our neighbors Canada or Mexico,” Combs said. “Our GDP, per capita, since 2001, [has] been larger than the U.S. every single year.”

Texas has lost about 4 percent of its jobs since the beginning of the recession, less than the United States (6 percent). Of those jobs, Combs said Texas has replaced about 90 percent, while the U.S. has replaced 23 percent.

“What’s more interesting to me is oil and gas,” Combs said. “Oil and gas lost well over 20 percent. They lost over 47,000 jobs. They’ve now regained more than that — about 57,000.”

Those jobs come with high wages, which helps drive sales tax revenue.

“The average weekly wage in the Eagle Ford is $2,764, about $140,000 per year,\" Combs said. \"Texas’ average is $940. So sales tax is being driven largely by the oil and gas sector. And sales tax is about 64 or 66 percent of all tax revenue. So when you’ve got a very aggressive, positive cycle of activity in oil and gas, it helps a lot.”

Although Combs focused largely on the positive aspects of the state economy, she didn\'t shy away from the challenges facing an ever-growing, ever-changing Texas. One of the biggest is meeting the educational needs of the state as its demographic shifts to predominantly Hispanic, a group that historically has had a lower educational attainment than Anglos.

According to U.S. Census Bureau data, 43 percent of Hispanics in Texas did not have a high school diploma in 2009, compared with 8 percent of non-Hispanic whites. In addition, Combs said 50 percent of Anglos have college degrees.

The result is a disparity in how much each group earns: Hispanic households in Texas earn, on average, $29,000 per year. The average Anglo household brings home $47,000.

In short, Texas is juggling huge growth, shifting demographics and challenges in both public and higher education.

\"We have to manage all these in some better way than we are doing now,” Combs said.

Christmas Fair Shopping

Okay, so maybe it is a little bit early to consider Christmas shopping, even though the Christmas decorations in retail stores went up as the Halloween decorations came down, with the speed of a Los Vegas blackjack dealer flipping through a deck of cards. It's time to consider Christmas, early or not. For myself, I developed the habit of doing so while stationed overseas, when the heavy parcels home had to be mailed by October in order to arrive by Christmas, which pushed my personal Christmas shopping back into the months of August and September . . . anyway, now I have a couple of shelves in the master bedroom closet that are dedicated to gift storage. That is, the things that we pick up throughout the year, thinking "Oh, that will be a splendid present for so-and-so!" Come December, all we need do is pull everything out and get busy with the tissue paper and ribbons.

For those who are not inclined to this kind of Christmas shopping, there are alternatives to the Big Box Store sameness; venues to purchase gifts that are unique – and made in America. The very nicest of them are a range of craft shows and markets, taking place locally over coming weekends, many of which also benefit local institutions.

One of the biggest of these upcoming fairs takes place over next weekend, November 17-20th (2011) at the New Braunfels Convention Center – the Weihnachtsmarkt, which benefits the Sophienburg Museum and archives. More than fifty local vendors and crafters will be featured over four days of the fair, as well as a dozen local authors, including me!

The first weekend in December provides a treasure-box of community-oriented Christmas fairs and craft shows: continuing the decided Germanic flavor, Fredericksburg sets up their St. Nikolausmarkt on the Marktplatz (Market Square) on Friday and Saturday, December 2nd and 3rd – the Friday evening of this event to be enhanced with a lighted Christmas parade on Main Street.

Goliad also has a Christmas craft fair, parade and community events. Christmas on the Square happens on the same Friday and Saturday. Their Saturday parade has a more traditional Texan flavor, as it usually features Santa arriving mounted on a long-horn, and attended by a mounted posse of cowboys. Goliad also features local authors – me, yet again. I love Goliad, by the way – especially at Christmas.

Closer to San Antonio, Boerne goes English and Dickens for Christmas, with all sorts of period Victoriana, Main Street lit by lamplight and many enterprises remaining open for extended hours. Castroville, better known as Little Alsace – more of a French influence there – also has a two-day event, with parade, tree-lighting, and many local vendors. Really, one is almost spoiled for choice, the first weekend of December. But there is no excuse not to get the Christmas shopping done then.

Nature's Critters

by Celia Hayes

We were walking the dog this morning, when we noticed two of our neighbors deep in conversation in the driveway. The object of conversation seemed to be an occupied Hava-Hart trap, and naturally being terribly curious about anything going on in our neighborhood, we went over and joined the conversation, discovering that the occupant of the trap was a mature and deeply unhappy opossum. This was not entirely unexpected around here, actually. Possums turn up all the time – in fact, before we acquired the dogs, there were several of them that hung out in my back yard, going so far as to help themselves to the cat food that I put out for the outdoor cat. The cat, by the way, was perfectly amiable towards the opossum, as she very well might be, as the opossum had way more and very much sharper teeth than she did.

The neighbor in question was a trifle freaked about her catch, as she had actually set the trap for squirrels. This year, between the drought and a bumper crop of acorns on the numerous oak trees, the squirrels are being a particular pest. They are everywhere, digging holes in the flowerbeds, in the potted plants, and eating the roots of certain ornamental plants, and sending our dogs into noisy frenzies of excitement. The Lesser Weevil surprised one particularly unwary and slow-moving squirrel at the bird feeder the other day, and came as close to actually catching it as she has ever come . . . although I am not certain she would actually know what to do with it if she did. My daughter entertains a lively fantasy of the Weevil being so enthused by close pursuit that she actually follows the squirrel up into the tree branches . . . and then we would have to call the fire department to extract a 90 pound dog from out of the tree . . .

Anyway, wildlife abounds in our little patch of San Antonio home paradise; plenty of the usual suburban small mammals and rodents, and a nice selection of birds. We planted various flowering shrubs to attract humming birds, and put out feeders which draw in cardinals, wrens, sparrows and doves. One of our other neighbors has actually induced several families of woodpeckers to take up residence in their yard; most amusing to watch, they tell us. I think the most colorful yard critters are the small anole lizards. They are everywhere in the spring and summer months, bright lime green in color with delicate pink throats that they will show off by inflating them. They always seemed to hang out in the wisteria, very possibly because the lizards and the wisteria leaves are the same color.

All this wildlife is about par, for a small yard in a city neighborhood – a bigger yard and one adjacent to a greenway or open fields can count on wider assortment. Like deer: Hill Country Village – well within the 1604 Loop – supports a herd of deer and has for years. McAllister Park has deer in it, best seen in the early morning, and I spotted some deer wanderers at the corner of Thousand Oaks and Naco-Perrin one morning, several years ago, meandering towards the open golf course at Northern Hills. Even the campus of USAA has it's very own herd, which to my mind increases the likeness of the place to a stately fortified demesne on a high hill with an enclosed park around it. We might be in the city, or at least the suburbs . . . but the critters are always with us.

Halliburton Jobs Come to San Antonio for the Eagle Ford Shale

Written by Randy Watson

The Eagle Ford shale operations may be the largest oil field ever discovered in Texas. They are predicting millions and millions of dollars worth of oil and hundreds to tens of thousands of new oil related jobs from San Antonio throughout South Texas. Houston based oilfield giant Halliburton, the world leader in the oilfield service industry with operation in more than 70 countries began work on a $50 million base of operation in San Antonio. The planned 400,000 square foot structure will be located near I37 and Loop 1604 in southeast Bexar County.

Halliburton's major business segment is the Energy Services Group which provides technical products and services to petroleum and natural gas exploration and production. This new facility will employ 1500 workers to support it's operation in the Eagle Ford shale. Our many military veterans and military retirees may find employment in the oilfield industry. Many of these jobs are higher paying jobs in the $70,000/year to well over $100,000 per year jobs range and may require specialized training or miniumum of a 4 year or advanced degrees such as a PhD. Texas A&M San Antonio campus is nearby.

Employment will not be limited to the oil fields directly. The facility will require administration and laboratory personel as well as those in the high tech fields, engineers, geologists and chemists. In addition to truck drivers; mechanics and automotive technicians will be required to service their fleet of trucks at the new facility. Halliburton hopes to hire locally 75 percent of the anticipated 1500 employees.

Halliburton's base of operation is to be fully operational by 2013. Bexar County Judge, Nelson Wolff reportedly said that the precense of Halliburton should aid the region's economy as a whole and boost demand for higher-end housing. Early seat of the pants reports indicate that San Antonio's high end/luxury communities such as the Dominion and even Boerne's Cordillero Ranch are already seeing interest from oil related business professionals wanting to relocate to San Antonio. Even surrounding communitities such as Floresville real estate and Pleasanton may see a increase in demand for housing.

Baker Hughes, Weatherford International and Schlumberger have also announced multimillion dollar facilities to be built in southeast Bexar County and will be hiring hundreds to support their operations as well.

Veterans Day

Written by Randy Watson

Good morning everyone and Happy Veteran\'s Day to our honored Veterans. We at Realty United are wishing all who\'ve bravely served our country a Happy Veterans\' Day. Please give thanks to all the men and women who are serving today. Your dedication to our great country is appreciated!

May God continue to bless you and your families. God bless the USA.

San Antonio Ranks Number Five For Military to Begin Second Career

San Antonio came if at number 5 for best places for Military Retirees to launch their second career. USAA and Military.com commissioned a study from Sperling's BestPlaces to match military retirees and their job skill sets.

Overall Top 10 Places

1. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
2. Norfolk, Virginia
3. Richmond, Virginia
4. Austin, Texas
5. San Antonio, Texas
6. Madison, Wisconsin
7. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
8. Raleigh, North Carolina
9. Omaha, Nebraska
10. Manchester, New Hampshire

Gone with the Wurst! 2011

Wurstfest in New Braunfels, Texas! Now thru November 13, 2011

by Celia Hayes

Well, another first weekend after Halloween and where would we be, but up in New Braunfels, in Landa Park, enjoying ourselves amid oceans of beer and continents of sausages . . . and kettle-fried potato chips, meatballs-onna-stick, roast corn and sundry other fair food delights. Every year in November, New Braunfels exuberantly celebrates everything to do with sausage, beer, music, their German heritage, and funny hats, not necessarily in that order. Really, we have the impression that every public-spirited citizen and the members of practically every social club, community support organization and scholastic extra-mural activity in New Braunfels and environs put everything else in their lives on hold, to help run a booth at Wurstfest. Which must be quite an exhausting chore, all things considered, for now it runs for ten days, two weekends . . . and in the evening the partying is intense. So is the music. Really, you can’t claim to have lived in Texas, until you have heard a classical Germanic Ummm-pah band play “Waltz Across Texas With You.” Or watched a couple in lederhosen and dirndl . . . swing dancing. The culture clash is, to put it mildly, intense. And I didn’t even get into the German version of a breakfast taco.

However – the sausage’n’suds celebration now has a permanent home in Landa Park, right next to the old power-generating station, which has now been converted to commercial purposes – my daughter insists that when I am a rich and famous writer, I can buy her a New Braunfels condo. We can go spend the 4^th of July, where our condo would be convenient for rafting on the Comal, she says, and I say, Sweetie, I had better sell a raft-load more of my books. Several raft loads, actually, since I want for myself a nice little country retreat in the Hill Country. Although . . . this time around, I ran in to someone who actually sort-of remembered my name and having read one of my books, but then someone else saw me taking pictures of people in funny hats and asked if I was from the Herald Zeitung . . . progress, I suppose.

The new hall on the festival grounds is finished and open – a huge, permanent building, built out on stilts at the edge of the Comal River – and it is absolutely wonderful: a good view and balconies all the way around. We decamped late in the afternoon, when the press of crowds got absolutely too much – and went to Naegelin’s Bakery for sweet rolls, walked around and looked at some of the arts and crafts booths set up around the old town square . . . and on the way home, stopped by Granzini’s Meat Market for sausages and other local delights. One of the counter-hands at Granzini’s told us that they supply most of the food booths at Wurstfest with the varied kinds of sausages and all . . . enjoy at Wurstfest, and then stop by for some of their locally made take-home sausage afterwards. Wurst – it’s what’s for dinner, at this time of the year in Texas.