TC Board to hold public hearing on proposed tax hike

Texarkana, Texas - Texarkana College's Board of Trustees will hold a public hearing on the proposed eight percent tax increase at 11:30 a.m. Monday in the Patman Room of the Truman Arnold Student Center, 2500 N. Robison Road, Texarkana, Texas.

They are proposing a rate of $0.123081 per $100 of taxable property value. The current tax rate is $0.118115 per $100 in taxable value. For an average $100,000 home in Bowie County, taxes would be $127.44, a $10 increase from the $117.97 in taxes imposed on the average home last year.

Trustees will vote on the tax rate during their regular meeting, scheduled for 11:30 a.m. Monday, Aug. 26 in the Patman Room.

The increase will generate $300,000 for the general budget to repay the $10 million in municipal bonds the college took in February for campus improvements, including compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act, which is required by the federal government.

Other improvements include renovation of the college's old Health Science Building and the current Biology Building, parking lot and paving improvements and heating and air systems.

Of the state's 50 community colleges, TC ranks the tenth lowest in tuition rates and also has the highest completion rate.

The college last raised rates from $0.110718 to $0.118115 in August 2017, a move that generated $340,000 for the 2017-18 budget.

The board had also increased rates in 2016. In 2015, trustees proposed raising the tax and an anonymous door gave the school $1 million on the condition the tax not be raised for at least one year.

In 2011, TC alum and billionaire Ross Perot announced that he would give the college $1 million per year for five years to keep the doors open. That funding ended in 2016.

Voters also approved the college's annexation of Bowie County in 2012.

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