Homeowners living within the Lone Star College System’s boundaries will be charged the same tax rate for fiscal year 2024-25 that they were for the previous fiscal year after the college system’s board of trustees approved a flat tax rate on Oct. 3.

The action taken

On Oct. 3, LSCS’s board of trustees unanimously approved a FY 2024-25 tax rate of $0.1076 per $100 valuation, with trustee David Vogt absent. The median tax rate among college systems statewide is $0.1461, according to Aug. 1 presentation materials.

Under the approved tax rate, a homeowner with a $285,000 home—the average home value with LSC’s boundaries in 2022—would pay $306.66 annually in taxes to LSCS. A request to LSC for the latest average home value within the college system’s boundaries was pending as of press time Oct. 7.

“LSCS is not responsible for home appraisal values,” said Kristy Vienne, LSCS’ vice chancellor for Finance and Administration/chief financial officer, via email Oct. 4. “If a home is valued higher than last year, the homebuyer may pay more taxes, which the college does not control.”

Diving deeper

According to Oct. 3 meeting documents, the tax rate is made up of:

• $0.0757 per $100 valuation for the maintenance and operations tax rate, which is 3% higher than the FY 2023-24 M&O rate.
• $0.0319 per $100 valuation for the interest and sinking rate, which funds the college system’s debt service for bonds, and is 7% higher than the FY 2023-24 I&S rate.

In case you missed it

LSC’s board of trustees passed a balanced budget—which includes an 8% raise for full-time faculty and a 4% raise for other staff—for FY 2024-25 on Aug. 1. The budget includes $54.4 million in total new revenue, including $1.1 million due to enrollment growth.