BLINN BOARD PROPOSES HIGHER TAX RATE, STILL EXPECTING LOSS IN STATE FUNDING
The Blinn Board of Trustees moved on Tuesday to propose a property tax rate that is just shy of needing voter approval, but is a step to reduce the College’s penalty in state funding for having too low of a tax rate.
The newly proposed rate of $0.0438 per $100 valuation is an increase from the current adopted rate of $0.0421. The proposed rate exceeds the no-new-revenue rate of $0.0404 and is just below the $0.0439 voter approval rate.
Vice Chancellor for Business and Finance Dr. Clen Burton said in 2023, the state created a requirement to impose a minimum maintenance and operations tax rate of $0.05, coming from the Texas Legislature’s passage of the higher education bill, House Bill 8. Not meeting that threshold results in the loss of state appropriations; in the current fiscal year, Blinn lost approximately $870,000, and it expects a loss of $570,000 in the new fiscal year with this proposed rate.
Because of caps on how much entities can raise their tax rates in a year, Dr. Burton said it will take time before the College can reach that $0.05 mark.
Trustee Jim Kolkhorst, speaking with Executive Vice Chancellor Leighton Schubert, said attempts to persuade the Legislature to do away with the $0.05 rule have not been successful thus far.
Blinn’s tax rate is the lowest of all community colleges in Texas and generates approximately 2 percent of the College’s annual operating revenue. Tuition and fees make up the largest portion of Blinn’s revenue, followed by state funding. The College is keeping tuition and fee rates the same for the 2025-26 academic year, after the state asked community colleges to freeze them.
The proposed rate would yield an estimated $$3,183,274 in tax revenue and equates to approximately $43.80 in annual taxes per $100,000 of property value. All property tax revenue collected within Blinn’s taxing district in Washington County must support the College’s Washington County operations.
The vote to propose the tax rate was 6-1, with Trustee Richard O’Malley voting against.
A public hearing on the tax rate is scheduled for Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. in the third-floor board room of the Brenham Campus Administration Building. The hearing will be followed by a vote to adopt the rate.
Click here to view the notice for the public hearing on the tax rate.
In other business on Tuesday, trustees heard public comments from several members of the Timber Oaks Homeowners Association. Representatives from the HOA spoke on the College’s new Sports Complex, which was originally intended to be built behind the Ann Gardner Livestock Annex Building, but is now being considered to be built behind the homes on Timber Oaks Drive.
The residents presented concerns about using Oak Tree Crossing Drive as the access road to the complex, as it is the only road into or out of the subdivision and was not designed for heavy traffic. They also said the subdivision would be impacted by the noise, light pollution and construction from the complex. They asked the College to proceed at the originally proposed location and include the HOA in future planning.
The College has also opted into the Financial Aid for Swift Transfer (FAST) Program for the second consecutive year. Through FAST, established by HB 8 from the 88th Legislative Session, students are eligible to have their dual-credit costs covered if they enroll in an eligible dual-credit course at a participating public school district or charter school and have qualified for free or reduced-price lunch within the previous four years.
Eligible students will not pay tuition and fees for eligible dual-credit courses, books, supplies, and other course materials. Students’ eligibility is determined based upon data provided from ISDs and charter schools to the Texas Education Agency.