Del Mar College’s board of regents approved a balanced budget Tuesday, including raises for staff and an increase in the property tax rate.
For residents of the community college’s tax district, which includes Corpus Christi ISD, Flour Bluff ISD, Port Aransas ISD, West Oso ISD, Tuloso-Midway ISD and Calallen ISD, the 2024-25 tax rate will be $0.26174 per $100 of taxable value.
The new rate represents a 2.15% increase in total tax revenues.
Last year, the tax rate was $0.237002, but the rate was higher in 2020-21, 2021-22 and 2022-23. Though the tax rate decreased in recent years, hitting a low in 2023-24, before increasing again this year to slightly lower than the 2022-23 rate, the annual property tax paid by the average homeowner has followed a different pattern as taxable values have also changed.
For fiscal year 2025, the amount owned in property tax for a $245,920 homestead, which was the average taxable value in 2023, would be $644. In fiscal year 2024, the annual property tax for the average homestead was $532. It was $534 in fiscal year 2023, $516 in 2022 and $526 in 2021.
The regents also approved several annual tax exemptions. This year, that includes a $5,000 homestead exemption and a $50,000 exemption for those 65 years and older and those with qualified disability benefits. There is also a statutory exemption for qualified disabled veterans and qualified charitable organizations.
The exact amount on individual tax bills will vary for homeowners and also depends on whether the value of their property increased or decreased over the past year. Property values are determined by county tax assessors.
The new fiscal year 2025 tax rate will raise over $75 million in maintenance and operations revenues for the community college, going toward annual expenses such as salaries. Nearly $20.8 million will also be raised for debt service.
Beyond local property tax revenues, Del Mar College is also expecting nearly $27 million in state funding and about $22 million in revenues from tuition and fees.
Revenues and expenses within the maintenance and operations budget are balanced at over $125 million, which is $10 million more than the revenues and expenses in fiscal year 2024.
These additional funds include an additional $4.8 million for faculty and staff, as well as over $5 million more in non-salary expenses. The largest piece of the budget is salaries and benefits, which will account for nearly $89 million in fiscal year 2025.
Included in the budget is a 6% raise for full-time faculty, 5% for adjunct and overload pay, 4% for exempt staff and non-exempt full-time staff and 3% for some non-exempt part-time staff excluding work study, instructional, grants and student assistants.
The biggest changes between last year and this year in non-salary expenses include increases in costs related to regular maintenance and repairs, deferred maintenance, equipment and computer software, hardware, licenses and service, as well as initiatives to align with recent changes to the state community college outcomes-based funding model.
The budget was built based on a predicted 2% increase in enrollment. Earlier in the year, the regents approved a $2 tuition rate increase for students who live in the Del Mar College district.
The budget and tax rate were both approved with regents Carol Scott, Nicholas Adame, Anantha Babbili, Carl Crull and David Loeb voting in favor. Regents Rudy Garza Jr. and Bill Kelly voted against both. Regents Laurie Turner and Libby Averyt were not in attendance at the Tuesday meeting.
More information about the budget and tax rate is available in meeting documents online.
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