The Lone Star College System board of trustees voted at its Sept. 3 meeting to set Sept. 16 and Sept. 23 as the dates for public hearings on the 2015-16 tax rate. Both meetings will take place at 6 p.m. in the board room of the LSC Training and Development Center at 5000 Research Forest Drive, The Woodlands. Although the proposed tax rate of 10.79 cents per $100 valuation is lower than last year’s rate of 10.81 cents, LSCS is still required to host two public hearings because the system will still bring in more revenue due to increases in certified property values, Lone Star College CFO Cynthia Gilliam said. Last year, LSCS adopted a net effective tax rate; the rate was lowered in alignment with the increase in property values so that the system received the same amount of money as the previous year. This year, a net effective rate was determined to not be a viable option because there were not as many new properties adding value in the service area, Gilliam said. “New properties in the past would provide over 50 percent of the new value from one year to the next, and that covered our growth,” she said at the Sept. 3 meeting. “This year [new properties] grew at less than 35 percent.” In 2014, property tax revenues made up 36 percent of LSCS funding sources, roughly $116 million. The proposed 2015-16 budget shows property tax revenues will again make up 36 percent of funding at roughly $125 million. “We’re not really requesting something that is going to increase our revenue beyond what we normally would get,” Gilliam said. Under the current budget, a resident who owns a home valued at $200,000 would pay $216 to LSCS over the course of the fiscal year. Under the proposed tax rate, that same homeowner—assuming their home values increased by the maximum 10 percent—would pay about $237 on their home valued at $220,000, or about $1.75 more per month. Jon Bauman, vice president of the Texas Patriots PAC, spoke against the proposed tax rate during the public comment period of the Sept. 3 meeting, urging the board to consider a net effective rate. He cautioned trustees that the declining oil and gas industry could have severe effects on the local economy. “You can’t look at what we have had in revenue growth over the past 20 years and say that is what is going to happen in the future,” he said. “There are a lot of people in the area who work in the oil and gas industry and there are going to be a lot of foreclosures. When you change the formula you’ve been using and start passing above the net effective rate, that’s a tax increase.” Bauman objected to proposals in the budget to fund 70 new full-time faculty positions and provide a two percent raise for all full-time employees. LSCS Chancellor Steve Head said he is committed to increasing full-time faculty until the system reaches a 50:50 ratio of full-time and part-time employees. Bauman also suggested looking into a tuition raise as another alternative. The proposed 2015-16 budget calls for tuition to be kept the same, as LSCS officials said they did not want to look for additional revenue from students.