Adriana will you please look into the selective release / demotions at Del Mar? Isn't the fat better cut at the Executive Level?

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Regents OK Del Mar's legislative goals

One proposal: Align college taxing district and its service area

By adriana garza Caller-Times
June 14, 2006


Though the 80th Texas Legislature still is six months away, Del Mar College officials aren't wasting any time setting goals for the session.

At Tuesday's Board of Regents Meeting, regents approved the college's legislative priorities for next year. Chief among them is a proposal that would align community college taxing districts with the geographical areas they service.

Del Mar College taxes the five school districts within the Corpus Christi area.

Students who do not live in the Corpus Christi, Flour Bluff, Tuloso-Midway, Calallen and West Oso school districts pay more than twice as much in tuition and fees as in-district students.

Only three community colleges in the state tax their entire service area, including South Texas Community College in the Valley.

If the measure passes, Del Mar College would tax the counties it serves and all students would pay the same amount in tuition and fees.

Del Mar College also will support a recommendation to provide full formula funding for community colleges.

Formula funding is based on the number of contact hours a community college provides. A contact hour is defined as one hour of instruction per student.

But typically, community colleges have not received full formula funding from the Legislature.

For example, during the 2004-2005 school year, Del Mar College delivered $48.7 million in student credit hours but the Legislature funded only $37.2 million, a shortfall of $11.5 million.

The college was forced to recoup those costs by raising taxes, increasing tuition and fees and closely monitoring spending.

Del Mar College President Carlos Garcia said that with full formula funding, the college could receive as much as $10 million a year more to its budget.

"This would be a considerable increase in our budget," he said.

The college also is encouraging the Legislature to fully fund community and technical college employee benefits. In previous years, the Legislature has cut back on the funding it provides for insurance and retirement benefits for some employees.

At Del Mar College, groundskeepers and maintenance personnel were affected by the change. However, the college made up the difference out of its own budget.

Any more cuts to benefits at the state level would be devastating for the college, officials said.

Garcia said he is optimistic about the coming legislative session. With major issues such as school finance settled, he said the chances to secure additional state funding are better than ever.

"Our time has finally come," he said.

The next step for the college will be to meet with local legislators, city and Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi officials to strategize about how best to approach the legislative session.

Contact Adriana Garza at 886-3618 or HYPERLINK mailto:garzaa@caller.com garzaa@caller.com

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