The McLennan Community College board on Tuesday signaled its support for a property tax rate that would bring in an extra $3.2 million in revenue for the 2023-24 fiscal year, up nearly 8% from last year.
By a 5-1 vote, trustees declared their intent to set the new rate no higher than 12.85 cents per $100 valuation. That rate is more than a penny lower than the current rate of 13.91 cents, but it amounts to a tax hike for the average McLennan County taxpayer given rising property appraisals.
The proposed rate is 0.81 of a cent higher than the no-new-revenue tax rate calculated by the state with property values in mind, and it is just shy of the rate that would require voter approval under state law.
The countywide MCC district’s certified tax base, which includes new and existing taxable property of all kinds, grew 17.2% this year to $28.5 billion.
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The average taxable home value rose 11.9% this year to $202,222, counting exemptions. With the new tax rate, the owner of such a home would owe MCC $259.87 in the coming fiscal year, up $8.49 or about 3%.
The tax rate would help support a proposed budget of $68 million, up from the $61.8 million budget approved a year ago.
Stephen Benson, MCC vice president for finance and administration, walked trustees through the proposed budget Tuesday with several funding levels based on differing tax rates.
The preferred budget scenario includes a 5% pay hike for faculty and staff for the second consecutive year. It includes additional spending for technology, insurance and the district’s contingency fund, which the college used last year to help balance the budget.
The college will hold steady on current tuition and fees charged students, Benson said. MCC’s in-county tuition rate is $106 per semester hour, with a typical cost of $3,660 a year for tuition and fees, according to MCC’s website.
The Texas Legislature’s approval this year of “outcome-driven” funding for community colleges will bring in an additional $1.6 million to MCC, President Johnette McKown told trustees. She called that increase “a huge win for us.”
In discussion on the tax rate and budget, trustees supported the salary increases. Board Chair Earl Stinnett Sr. said the increases are needed to keep up with a job market shaped not only by other community colleges, but local school districts and police departments.
“Taking care of our employees … impacts our students directly,” he said.
Trustees approved the 12.85 cents per $100, generating 7.95% more revenue than last year, but they noted that they could lower that rate before its final approval at their Aug. 29 meeting. Voting for the rate were Stinnett, Ricky Turman, Geneva Watley, Jonathan Hill and Ilda Sabido, with Trustee K. Paul Holt casting the dissenting vote.
Holt pushed for a tax rate of 12.45 cents per $100, rather than pursuing the maximum amount possible without voter approval.
“We have pushed that 8% so many years,” Holt said. “It was the wrong thing to do then and still is.”
A public hearing and vote on the tax rate will take place Aug. 29 at MCC’s Community Conference Center.
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