College board OKs tax hike: Officials say move necessary for survival of college, will fill gap left when Perot's donations end

Texarkana College is seen in December 2015 at 2500 N. Robison Road in Texarkana, Texas.
Texarkana College is seen in December 2015 at 2500 N. Robison Road in Texarkana, Texas.

Bowie County residents will see a tax increase on their October bill, as Texarkana College trustees voted Monday to increase the tax rate in Bowie County by eight percent.
Members approved the rate of $.110718 per $100 assessed property valuation, a rate just higher than the current $.105267. It's the first tax hike in five years, and is a move TC administrators say is required for the college to survive. Cuts at the state level have put the burden of community college education on the taxpayer and student, TC President James Henry Russell said.
Four years ago, billionaire Ross Perot, a TC alum, gave the college $4 million, with $1 million to be used each year to keep the college afloat. That funding ends this year, and the tax increase helps fill that gap.
"We're also voting to increase our taxes as well," Board President Kyle Davis said. "It's not something that we as a board take lightly and we hope that the citizens of Bowie County and Cass County, hopefully, understand that. It's a necessary duty that we have and I think that we all are called to do this it's really for the betterment for this community, and that's the only reason that I'm doing it."
The board went through the steps to increase the rate last year, but an anonymous donor gave the college $1 million, which delayed the need to increase the tax.
The average taxpayer will see an increase of $.43 per month on their tax bill. Residents who are disabled or 65 and older are not affected, as their rates are frozen.
The $300,000 generated by the hike is included in 2016-17 budget, which was also approved Monday. TC's Chief Financial Officer Kim Jones said in developing a balanced budget, administration asked department heads to cut expenses by at least five percent. That amount wasn't enough, so they were asked to cut more. Those reductions, along with not filling five full-time positions this year, has freed up about $700,000 in the budget. Jones said this year, the budget will be "bare bones" and is projected to end in the black by only $23,250.
Trustee Ernie Cochran complimented the staff's efforts, and said it had to have been tough to cut that much from each department.
"I'm hoping the people understand you cut 700 grand out of an already thin budget," he said. "That's why we had to ask for help from the county."
"And there's nothing in the budget for our capital outlay, any improvements," Davis added. "We're just keeping the status quo for our infrastructure. It'd be easy to get the misimpression just looking around and reading different things, that we've got all the money in the world. But if you look at this budget and really study it, we're doing a whole lot with very little. I think we do more with less than any community college around here."
In TC's service portion of Cass County, voters will decide in November if they want the same amount levied to become part of the school's taxing district. Trustees unanimously voted to annex their service portion of the county, which consists of Atlanta Independent School District, Bloomburg ISD, Linden-Kildare ISD, McLeod ISD and Queen City ISD.
"There are absolutely no guarantees on which way this one is going to go," Russell said of the annexation. "There is one guarantee, and that's the state of Texas needs a more-educated population."
If approved, students in the service area would pay in-district tuition of $1,130 for 15 semester hoursa difference of $795. Programs and services would include a workforce training site offering courses and programs, plus expanded dual-credit offerings for high school students. Prices for those courses would also be reduced. Taxpayers 65 and older or who are disabled would have a $5,000 tax exemption, and the rate would be frozen.
"The evidence is crystal clear for the desperate need of more educational opportunities in this region to raise the percent of the population with a credential," Russell said.
Only 13 percent of Cass County residents have a bachelor's degree or higher, as compared with the state average of 27 percent, he added.
"We are lagging behind every region of the state. If you take East Texas on its own and compare it nationally-if it became our own state, in East Texas we would be ranked 51," Russell said.
In other business, board members also called for an election to fill two seats in November, that of Place 1's Ernie Cochran and Place 2's Jane Daines. Both are six-year terms. Early voting begins Oct. 24 and will run through Nov. 4.

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