Weatherford College board proposes flat tax rate

The Weatherford College Board of Trustees proposed the 2024 ad valorem tax rate of 10.6087 cents per $100 valuation for Parker County property owners at their recent August meeting, the same as the current tax rate. 

The average 2024 property tax state among community colleges was 16.0456 cents.

If approved, the board will have either lowered or kept the tax rate flat in seven out of the last eight years.

Board member G.B Bailey commended President Tod Allen Farmer on the college’s recent Debt Obligations Transparency Star from the Texas Comptroller’s Office and promotion of that achievement. 

“You did a great job of informing the general public of where the college is trying to be conservative in our taxation and the great things the college has performed in winning awards for our finances,” Bailey said. 

A public tax hearing will take place at 12:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 22, in the Allene Strain Room in the Doss Student Center. Immediately following the hearing, the board will vote on the 2024-25 budget and the 2024 proposed tax rate. 

Report from trainers

The board also received a report from WC’s athletic trainers, Chris Nelson and Ryleigh Hyles, about their efforts to prevent and treat injuries on the college’s athletic teams. 

Nelson and Hyles provide comprehensive care to 150 to 200 athletes each year and have provided 8,536 individual treatments since 2022. They attend all home athletic events and travel with the teams to post-season tournaments. 

In addition to caring for Coyote athletes, they teach kinesiology courses and prevention and care of athletic injury classes at WC. WC also serves as a clinical site for Tarleton University’s athletic training graduate program.

In other business

The board also: 

• Approved the minutes of the July board meeting. 
• Approved the financial reports ending July 31. 
• Approved a local policy setting future board meeting dates and times for the next 12 months. 
• Approved a Bachelor of Applied Arts and Science in Computer Science. 
• Approved a request for the board to reaffirm the college’s safety procedures related to firearms in student housing and on campus. 
• Approved a contract quote from Dell Technologies and Dell Financial Services for a master lease agreement. 
• Approved an interlocal cooperative purchasing agreement with the Houston-Galveston Area Council (H-GAC)’s Cooperative Purchasing Program, known as HGACBuy. 
• Approved the prevailing wage on construction projects for the 2024-25 fiscal year as determined by the United States Department of Labor. 
• Received written reports from the Wise County campus, office of academics, and student services. 
• Received the annual safety and security audit report from WC Police Chief Anthony Bigongiari. 

President’s Report 

• Recognized Dr. Andra Cantrell and her team on their recent Debt Obligations Transparency Star from the Texas Comptroller’s Office. 
• Announced the recent transfer agreement with Texas A&M Corpus Christi for graduates of WC’s Bachelor of Science in Nursing program. 
• Announced the launch of the new Department of Business and Behavioral Science with Dr. Philip Mathew serving as chair. 
• Announced the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board’s recent approval of WC’s fifth bachelor’s degree. 
• Announced the resignations of Jennifer Miller, administrative assistant for ADN/LVN; Elizabeth Stone, ADN instructor; Dr. Tasha Brown, Department Chair of Behavioral Science (she will transition to an adjunct instructor position); Amanda Wood, ADN instructor; Gina Serrano, ADN instructor; and the retirement of Diann Ainsworth, English instructor. 
• Provided an enrollment update. As of July 29, the year-to-date enrollment for the fall semester was 4,589 students compared to 3,924 students at the same time last year. Registration for the fall is ongoing and the administration expects an overall enrollment increase for the fall.