TC to hold hearing on raising tax rate
Increase would still leave college’s rate one of the lowest in the state
The Texarkana College Board of Trustees will hold a public hearing at 11:30 a.m. Monday to consider increasing the tax rate in Bowie County for the 2017-18 budget year.
Trustees are considering increasing the current rate of $.110718 per $100 assessed value to $.118115, which would generate an additional $339,794 for the college.
TC President James Henry Russell said the rate averages about $.77 per month for the average household in Bowie County and that additional funds are needed to maintain the college.
“If we want a community college, there’s a certain level of support that it has to receive,” he said. “And we are at the bottom in Texas at the tax rate of supporting it, and we always want to be in that bottom range.
“At times like this, we occasionally have to take a step to move us closer to what everybody else is generating to support their local community college.”
In comparison, the rate at Kilgore College is $.175, Northeast Texas Community College’s rate is $.13, Tyler Junior College’s rate is $.19993, Panola Junior College has a rate of $.24334, Paris Junior College’s rate is $.17730
and the rate for Angelina College is $.17916.
“We’re at the bottom of taxes. If you’re going to be at the bottom of something, what you want to be at the bottom at is taxes,” Russell said. “And that’s where Texarkana College is and we’re proud. And even with this tiny change, we are still at the bottom in Texas of community colleges for taxes.”
He added that out of the 50 community colleges in Texas, there are only six with a lower tax rate than TC. He pointed out that four of those six are in major metropolitan areas with a population of more than a million.
“I totally get anti-tax. I totally get the reaction to any time the word increase and taxes go together,” he said. “If anyone is willing to look, if they can get past that and look at efficiency and effectiveness, and look at our tax rate compared to the rest of the state of Texas, and look at our tax rate compared to the rest of East Texas, you’re going to see that we’re about 69 percent of the average.”
Should the board vote to increase the tax, it would not impact those who have those who are 65 or older, or who are disabled who have filed for homestead exemption.
Trustees last raised taxes in August 2016, when they voted to increase the rate of $.105267 to the current $.110718. That increase generated around $300,000 for the 2016-17 budget year.
A second public hearing will be held at 11:30 a.m. Aug. 28. Both meetings will be held in the Patman Room at the Truman Arnold Student Center, 2500 N. Robison Road, Texarkana, Texas.