The Odessa College Board of Trustees approved the recommended tax rate for 2022.
The total rate will be $.188643 per $100 valuation, a decrease of 6.5 percent.
The maintenance and operations rate will be $.164191 per $100 valuation, a decrease of 4.9 percent, Chief Financial Officer Brandy Ham said.
The debt service rate would be $.024452, which is a decrease of 16 percent over last year’s debt service.
The total rate is a decrease of 6.5 percent.
“So looking at what the rate represents, again, it’s a decrease of 6.5 percent, but it is an increase of 6.45 percent over the no new revenue tax rate. So based on the new tax rate of $.188643, the annual taxes on an average home with a market value of $229,619 would be $347.06 per year which is a decrease of $2.12 per year. That equates to about 18 cents a month decrease,” Ham said Tuesday evening.
Since the new tax rate will be above the no new revenue rate, but below the voter approved rate, the college will have to have public hearings.
They are scheduled for 6 p.m. Sept. 8 in room 128 of the Saulsbury Campus Center and noon Sept. 13 in the same room.
The total budget for 2022-23 is $75,241,575.
On a separate item, the board approved a fitness court for the James Segrest Stadium. The total cost will be $166,350.
Trustees also appointed Tom Byford to Place 4 and Randy Wilson to Place 5 and approved resolutions to do so. Byford was sworn in and took his place Tuesday night.
Byford is a native Odessan, an Odessa High School graduate, went to Odessa College and earned bachelor of business administration degrees in finance and economics from Texas Tech University. He returned home to Odessa and has worked in various banking and finance jobs for 20 years.
“I’m very happy to be here and be part of the board,” Byford said.
Wilson was out of town. Like Byford, he is a native Odessan. He graduated from Permian High School and earned an associate degree in science from South Plains College. He went on to Texas Tech where he earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration. He has had a 34-year career in banking.
In the education report, the college recognized Ector County ISD Superintendent Scott Muri for the work he has done in making academic improvements in the district with the B rating from the Texas Education Agency.
Muri thanked OC for welcoming him to the community three and a half years ago and thanked them for embracing the two early college high schools on campus.
Odessa Collegiate Academy and OCTECHS were recognized for earning A ratings under the state accountability system.
Connie May, executive director of institutional research and effectiveness, gave the institutional effectiveness report focused on strategic planning.
“The goal of the strategic planning is to provide that roadmap that’s going to move the college forward. And again, we transitioned from an annual planning to a two-year planning cycle and we added this additional goal that Dr. (Janice) Hicks (vice president for institutional effectiveness) said that we needed to have. … We’ve always had increased enrollment and increasing educational attainment. She wanted to add to transform the community because at Odessa College that is what we do. We transform the community. …,” May said.
She also reviewed departmental continuous improvement plans. For example, Occupational Safety and Environmental Technology wants to pursue qualified academic program status.
“They’re going to restructure their program to meet the requirements for that. The music department, they want 100 percent of their students to be entered into a competition or an exhibition. Then they also want to invite ECISD for professional development with the OC faculty. …,” May said.
Trustee Dr. Tara Deaver appointed to engagement committee of the Texas Association of Community Colleges.
And Julie Lyon won the Blackboard Exemplary Course Program Award.
