TC board weighs budget draft

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.

Texarkana College's Board of Trustees will consider the first draft of the 2018-19 budget and the 2018-20 strategic plan during their regular meeting Monday.

The proposed budget shows projected revenue of $41.8 million, with estimated expenditures of $42 million and a deficit of $144,756 for the year.

TC President James Henry Russell said this will be the first time the board will have seen the budget and it is a work in progress.

"I have a strong feeling we will be able to bring this budget into break-even by August," he said. "This is the first draft, and we will start talking to the board Monday about it."

For the past two years, TC has raised property taxes to balance the budget because of lack of funding from the state. Russell said they've had no formal discussions this year on raising the tax rate to balance the budget.

"Right now, I really don't anticipate a change in our tax rate for this next year," he said, adding that they will have better budget numbers at the end of July, when the Bowie County Appraisal District releases certified values.

In August 2017, trustees increased the tax rate to $.118115 per $100 assessed property value, which generated an additional $340,000 for the college. The tax rate was also raised in August 2016, generating $300,000 for that year's budget.

Trustees considered raising the tax rate to $.113 in 2015 to add half a million dollars to the budget. An anonymous donor gave the college $1 million in September 2015, and the board voted to keep the existing rate.

In 2012, Bowie County residents voted to expand TC's 16.3-square-mile tax base to encompass the entire county, creating a $2.4 million net gain. TC alumnus Ross Perot has also given a total of $5 million to help keep the college financially stable.

In other business, the board will consider the 2018-20 strategic plan. During May's meeting, trustees identified the college's goals for the next few years, which are included in the plan.

Top priorities include:

  • Enhancing, upgrading and renovating facilities to meet state and federal ADA compliance standards and to modernize instructional space
  •  Being actively involved in a regional economic development effort by June 30, 2020
  •  The TC Foundation reaching $10 million in assets

Other goals include increasing the enrollment of economically disadvantaged dual-credit students to 450 within Bowie County by 2020, increasing campus safety and offering at least 50 percent of the core curriculum in eight-week terms by 2020.

The meeting will be held at 11:30 a.m. in the Patman Room of the Truman Arnold Student Center, 2500 N. Robison Road, Texarkana, Texas.

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