ACC Regents Pass 2012-13 Budget and Tax Rate

The Alvin Community College board of regents unanimously approved a $25.06 million budget during their regular meeting on August 23.

The proposed Maintenance & Operations Budget for the 2012-13 academic year will bring in the same amount of revenue received during the 2011-12 academic year. Board members also adopted the effective tax rate of 19.9 cents per $100 of property value.

The effective tax rate is the rate needed to bring in the same amount of revenue as the previous year.

“I think the course we’ve taken over the past several years to keep a sustainable growth in the budget is the right way to go,” regent Mike Pyburn said.

The revenue for the 2012-13 fiscal year will include $7.08 million in tuition and fees, $6.96 million in state appropriations and $10.66 million in property taxes. The upcoming school year will be the first in recent memory where student tuition will surpass the amount of state funding.

Debt payments in 2012-2013 for the Science/Health Science Building bonds are projected to be $1.49 million. There is no proposed tuition change for the academic year.

Included in the budget are three full time faculty positions due to an increase in dual credit classes. The budget also will provide for a 2- to3-percent pay increase for some employees.

Alvin Community College District saw a 5.3% increase in overall value for the 2012-13 fiscal year, which would equal approximately $6.08 billion compared to the current District value of $5.9 billion.

The board voted to approve accepting $7,821 in vendor cards earned through an American Express credit card awards program. Under the awards program, the college could choose to use the vendor cards, accept $3,910 in cash or give $7,821 to the ACC Foundation. The Foundation is a 501c (3) organization.

Before approving the awards program, regents rejected a vote to give the money to the Foundation. Regents Bel Sanchez, Brenda Brown and Doyle Swindell voted for giving it to the Foundation. James DeWitt, Mike Pyburn, Pete Nash and Mac Barrow voted against giving it to the foundation.

“I don’t think we need to be using our spending money to getting a rebate for the Foundation,” DeWitt said.

During the meeting the regents also approved a renewal of the Blackboard software system used for online courses and in-class instruction. Regents voted to hire an academic advisor, an English instructor and a Physical Plant director.

The ACC Board of Regents will have their next meeting on September 27 at 7 p.m. at the Nolan Ryan Center.