College trustees are scheduled to adopt the budget and tax rate for the 2009-2010 fiscal year when they hold their regular meeting at 12:30 p.m. Monday in the Maddux Student Center on the campus of SouthWest Collegiate Institute for the Deaf.

College President Dr. Cheryl Sparks said a $264 million decrease in district valuations have caused administrators to propose a tax rate increase of almost 4 cents just to raise the same amount of revenue as last year. This new tax rate, known as the effective rate because it effectively raises the same amount of money garnered last year, is 31.55 cents per $100 valuation.

“That may be a rate increase, but it's a zero increase in our tax levy,” Sparks said.

Under the new rate, owners of an average-priced home in Howard County ($44,963) will see an increase of $20.45 in their tax bills, as compared to an increase of $37.54 for owners of a $100,000 home.

“Certainly, we always pay attention to what's happening economically in our area,” Sparks said. “We wanted to avoid any kind of increase in our tax levy ... Also, we didn't want to increase tuition and fees again this year, so we built the budget with the effective tax rate and the same tuition and fees for our students.”

The budget will feature almost $3 million more in expenditures from the previous year, but most of that will be accounted for in increased campus renovation costs, as approved by voters in the 2007 bond election.

The valuation drop was offset somewhat by an $854,000 increase in state appropriations to the college. Also, officials are anticipating a $345,000 increase in non-tax revenue this budget cycle.

Aside from spending more on renovations this year, the college also plans to give a $750 annual raise to all employees, including their scheduled step raises, Sparks said.

For SWCID, which is financed almost entirely by state revenue, expenditures will rise roughly $600,000 this year.

That increase is targeted at expanding the scope of SWCID's online courses, providing dual credit courses for deaf high school students, improving the Career Placement Center, hiring a part-time instructor for the school's geographic information systems program and enhancing the interpreter training program.

In other business Monday, trustees will consider:

• Reports on delinquent tax collections and the college's quality enhancement plan.

• Bond project updates.

• Bids, catalog and handbook changes and personnel matters.

Contact Staff Writer Steve Reagan at 263-7331 ext. 234 or by e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it