(0:01 - 1:29)
Okay, it is 6.02. We will call the meeting to order. We do have a quorum and we will start with Regent Mark Hall leading us in the invocation and pledges. Please join me in prayer. 

God, we are so thankful for all the blessings that you give us, Lord, the blessings of life, the material blessings that we have, and God we are thankful for that. You have been gracious to us here in our Lee College community and our community at large. Lord, I pray that you will help us to keep sight of each individual student, a unique creation that you placed here on this earth, that they will be able with our help and with others to reach their full potential and become everything that you created them to be. 

God, give us wisdom as we talk about the business of this college and help guide our steps. In Christ's name we pray, amen. Please join me in the pledge to the United States flag. 

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. And pledge to the Texas flag. On the Texas flag, I pledge allegiance to thee, Texas, one state under God, one and indivisible.

(1:31 - 4:32)
Thank you. Okay, next up we have student spotlight. Mr. Chairman, I am delighted to introduce Kelly Ford Spears who will be introducing our incredible student spotlight speaker. 

Alright, good evening. It's my pleasure to introduce tonight's student speaker, Ms. Elaine Inko. Elaine began her journey studying biology at Lee College about one year ago in the fall of 2023. 

In her short time at the college, Elaine has joined the TRIO program and Puente program, is a current peer mentor, is an officer in the Rotaract Club and Student Government Association, and utilizes the SRAC and tutoring services. Elaine is the perfect example of a student who is successfully utilizing the many services, programs, and resources that make Lee College so special. Please join me in welcoming Elaine. 

Good evening, everyone. My name is Elaine. I am currently majoring in biology here at Lee College. 

I will finish my associate's degree here at Lee and transfer to University of Houston to finish my bachelor's degree. Two years ago, I moved here to the United States from the Philippines. Adjusting to a whole new country was a significant challenge for me and starting at the new college added another layer of complexity. 

I found myself facing many fears. The fear of not fitting in, the fear of being unhappy on my college journey, and the fear of failure. I started to attend Lee College last fall of 2023. 

Despite these fears, I was determined to embrace this new chapter of my life, not just to achieve my academic goals, but also to enjoy the experience. I attended as many campus events as I could and made it a priority to be active and involved while balancing my academics. I joined several clubs, such as the Honors Club, the Baptist Student Ministry, and the Rotaract Club, where I made friendships through volunteering. 

I also joined organizations such as TRIO and Puente. TRIO played a significant role in helping me settle into college life. From academic advising to university trips and leadership conferences, they provided me with both practical resources and personal support. 

Whenever I walked into their office, I was greeted with warm smiles that made me feel at home. As I became more comfortable, I also joined Puente, which offered additional opportunities for growth through fun educational events and a welcoming community. Attending these events from these organizations is one of my favorite things I always look forward to.

(4:33 - 7:29)
Because of this, I would be excited to come to school every day and bond with my friends through these events after my classes. As I continued my studies, I had the opportunity to secure my job as a student worker in the admissions and records during the fall semester. By the end of the spring semester, I was hired as a peer mentor, and this past summer, I was honored to become one of the lead peer mentors, one of the social media managers for Lee College FYE, and the president of the Rotaract Club. 

I also received a couple of scholarships from Puente, TRIO, Academic Studies, FYE, and various donors from the Foundation Scholarship. I am continually impressed by the extensive resources Lee College provides for its students, from the food market and transportation assistance to mental health and tutoring services. These resources have made a significant impact on my Lee College experience. 

Because I had so much support, despite having more roles and responsibilities, I was still able to keep my passion for my academics. The fears that I had going into college slowly faded, and it gave me the confidence to step out of my comfort zone, ask questions if necessary, and stay determined. I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincerest gratitude to everyone from Lee College who helped me and continues to help me in this journey. 

Attending events and joining clubs helped me connect and create a strong relationship with my peers and have a sense of purpose. Through my involvement in organizations like TRIO and Puente, I developed into a well-rounded student. Through being hired as a peer mentor or as a student worker, I was able to save extra money and appreciate hard work while doing something I love, which is to encourage all students to take advantage of the numerous opportunities available to them, just as I have. 

Through the scholarships I've been rewarded, I no longer worry about paying for my tuition, and it makes me truly happy to help my family reduce expenses. Services from the Student Resource and Advocacy Center helped me feel secure with my grocery supplies and transportation assistance. Lee College's commitment to enhancing student experience has not only helped me, but also positively affected countless students like me. 

Thank you all for making me feel that I don't have to be alone and that I belong here at Lee. I only wished for a happy college life, but I received way more than that. I am proud to be part of such a vibrant academic community. 

Going to Lee College was one of the best decisions I had in my life. Someday after I achieve my goals in life, I will never forget the people who supported and saw my potential while I was still starting to build my dreams. Thank you.

(8:45 - 13:48)
Okay, next up, Disposition of Minutes, Audit and Investment Committee from September 3rd, Building Committee meeting from September 18th, and Board meeting from September 19th. Do we have a motion on approving the minutes? Okay, got a motion by Regent Warford and a second by Regent Guillory. Any discussion on the minutes? Any corrections to the minutes? Hearing none, all in favor say aye. 

Aye. Any opposed? Okay, next up, Report of the Chairman. I do not have anything tonight. 

Building Committee, our report, we did meet yesterday and a couple of those items are on the agenda for approval tonight, and we are all looking forward to our upcoming day of interviews to select a Facilities Master Plan contractor. So, a lot of things happening with the Building Committee. Policy Committee. 

We have not met. We're meeting the last week of this month. Audit and Investment. 

Yes, we met on October 8th. We reviewed the quarterly report. Everyone should have gotten a copy of what we saw. 

We, the committee, approved the Internal Audit Charter, and then we did look at the Internal Audit Plan, and we were given a list of priority tiered items for auditing, and just to go over a few areas to be audited will be Information Technology, Workforce Purchasing, Human Resources, and there's more things, but those are basically our tier ones. So, thank you to everyone for coming and for the, just the staff working so hard to give us all that information. Mr. Goings and everybody, great job. 

It's a lot of hard work what they do, so thank you. What's the timeline for tier one? I don't think we have a timeline yet. I think it's still in that trying to figure out what all goes into it to get, because each one, I think the way it was explained, they kind of have to dig into it first to kind of see what's already been done and what needs to be done. 

If I'm saying that correctly, if you would, if you'd like to go ahead and tell them. No, I need you to come up to the microphone. Thanks, Greg. 

We're being recorded, though, so we need to be in front of the microphone. Okay, when we come into an area that I'm gonna call Greenfield, since I've not done it before, we'll go through and understand really what's going on, why it's going on, what are the key measurement criteria, what are the actual measures, and the end process, and then we'll decide, based upon various criteria, what are the most complex, risky, or opportunistic areas, and we'll establish the basic scope, then we'll do a risk assessment with the team involved, and that will set the scope, and then we'll go in and do assessment slash testing, and then come up with a final product. And the tier ones actually sent out a communication today to a bunch of people in this room to saying, we're gonna be meeting with you to decide which quarter we're gonna slot you guys in based upon, this is absolutely a bad time, it's never a great time for an audit, and then do it that way, so more to come shortly, because I'm gonna start calling folks in this room very tomorrow in the case. 

Well, can you tell, since she asked about timeline, can you kind of tell us how that fits into, I know you can't give us a timeline, but I know that you had talked a little bit of how to arrive at a timeline. Yeah, basically, I have a best estimated budget for the projects right now based upon what I know, but I don't know a lot, so when we go into the planning and that understanding, that takes roughly 50% of the total time based upon history, and if I'm looking at a process, I can have a standard cost, if it'll take me this many hours to understand it, some will take longer, some will take less, and then that will arrive at a timeline. So it's situational, that's the best answer I can give, but once we get going, we go very fast, and we like to move in, you know, two week chunks to cover a lot of ground, or a week chunk if it's a smaller piece, and do real-time reporting as we're going, so there's never any surprises by the time we get to the end when we produce a report. 

Thank you. You're welcome, and ask questions if you ever, and then my contact information is out there someplace. He gets really excited about that, I like that.

(13:51 - 17:11)
But don't, hey, we don't want to be too complimentary because we don't want his head to get too big, we might have to, that'd be another facilities project to expand the door, so. It's nice to see somebody excited about the work that they do, so that's great. Greg is great, we love, we love having him on our team. 

We're in good hands. Y'all chose well. I wanted to begin my report by letting the board know that we had a request for board members who are interested in coming to even more events, you guys are already a very active board, and we are updating the calendar that you receive to attend events, and so that will be being sent out to you shortly. 

Hard copies at the place tonight, and then electronically tomorrow. Great, so we look forward to seeing you at the events that you're able to participate in, and we are very grateful to have you at those events. Okay, so last month we celebrated our college's highest recorded enrollment for the third year in a row, but to add on, yes, it's always wonderful, but to add on to this news, I'm incredibly proud to report that we have also achieved record enrollment in our nursing program. 

So for FY 25, we will welcome 207 nursing students. This is huge, okay, and so to put this in context, this represents a whopping 290% increase from just FY 22, just a few years ago. This is a huge increase, so I want to acknowledge Dr. Helen Manobusan, who is our Director of Nursing, our amazing nursing faculty, but also our former Dean of Nursing, Dr. Janina Norris. 

So very proud of this amazing accomplishment, and we know that this is an industry that needs a lot more nurses, and we're very excited to create that additional talent pipeline and to support the growing, where we'll soon be offering a BSN program, and we're going to be excited to do that as well, but thank you so much for that work. I want to talk about a completely different topic, the Huntsville Center Horticulture Program. So this past month, under the direction of Scooter Langley, who I know most of you know, he's a horticulture faculty member, the Horticulture Department had their first water willow planting, I had to like look up some of this, this is new to me, water willow planting, which is a good thing, I found that out, because I'm like, is this a bad thing or a good thing? So it's a good thing, of the year. 

So with a hundred high school students who volunteered, they pulled over a thousand water willows from the college's grow tanks and delivered them to Carolina Creek, and so I just want to offer kudos to Scooter and to Donna Zuniga for their outstanding leadership in that work. I'd also like to heap some praise on Dr. Steve Showalter, who I told earlier I was going to brag on him. He is, as you know, a government faculty member here at Lee College, and as you all likely know, Dr. Showalter writes an opinion column in the Baytown Sun and was awarded Opinion Writer of the Year.

(17:11 - 17:36)
So kudos to Dr. Showalter. I want to also go back on an email actually I just sent to the board, but I'm going to report it here today too. I'm writing to, or I'm writing to share with you that the superintendent of Windham School District, Christina Hartman, and Windham School District is the pipeline for all of our students into Huntsville, so this is an important partner of ours.

(17:37 - 19:01)
She asked Dr. Walzers and Donna Zuniga to provide comments at the public hearing of the Sunset Advisory Committee in Austin on November 14th as they discuss recommendations for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and the Windham School District. This is pretty important because the Sunset Commission, which is made up of five state senators including Maze Middleton, five state representatives, and two public representatives, will be hearing from Dr. Walzers and Donna Zuniga as they provide subject matter expertise and recommendations on improving and expanding incarcerated education programs in Texas, and their comments are completely in line with the Texas Association of Community Colleges legislative priorities, and so this is also another great thing. So I'm just very proud of their leadership and pleased that our Huntsville Center is once again being recognized as a national leader of incarcerated education programs, and so I know they're going to do a wonderful job of representing Lee College, and it's just a great thing. 

So, Mr. Chairman, on that very positive note, I conclude my report. Next up, we have information report, Title IX CEO report. I just need to acknowledge that this is something that we provide to the board every year, and if there are any questions, we'd happy to answer them, but this is a every year thing.

(19:03 - 26:03)
Report of Lee College resignations and or retirements. I would like to begin this by announcing that I am providing this report under duress, and I looked in policy and asked Amanda and Leslie if we could ask the board to refute this, but Julie Lee, our amazing Julie Lee, who is the Executive Director of Administrative Support Services, and who Annette says is her number one person, and that she's number two, so they argue back and forth. She is going to be retiring for final, for final, final, final retirement, because she's extended it a few times for us in December, on December 13th, and I begged her today, I'm like, please, are you sure you won't consider just staying a little bit longer, but she's going to be moving to Oklahoma to be with her family, and we're very, very happy for her to begin this next phase of her journey, and we know that she will continue to stay in touch with us, and she'll always be a part of our family. 

So, I tried to see if you guys could decline it, but there's no way. You know, when your grandkids leave, it's pretty tough to hold those grandmas back. So, with regret, but appreciation. 

Well, congratulations, and thank you for your service. All right, next up, financial report. Annette. 

Sure, do you want to let Julie do this one, since she's the number one? Julie said nope. I may not be able to get through this report, I don't know. We'll see. 

You need a tissue? Maybe, maybe more than a tissue. Let's see here. Okay, well, it's time to do it all over again. 

This is the financial report for September, which is our first month. We'll have auditors on campus next week for two weeks, and they'll be starting the annual audit and review of last year results. And so, you know, once all of those are final, we'll be bringing that audit report to you guys, but that usually happens in December. 

But we are working on it. Cash remains strong. You may recall the change in our appropriations, right? So, in October, which I looked at cash today, and I saw that we received our state appropriations for October, a little over $10 million, because we received half of our appropriations in October, 25% in February, and the other 25% in June. 

So, we did receive $10 million in October for our state appropriations. Looking at tuition and fees, we're pretty close to budget. We'll see how it all pans out. 

And so, right now, it's a little bit early to tell, but we'll see. State appropriations, as I said, we don't receive that money until October, February, and June. Our district taxes, again, we won't start receiving that, really, until December, January. 

Other revenue, you can see here what makes that up. Most of it is housing charges from our athletes, food service. Those are the two main components. 

Our restricted funds, our federal grants, we've got about $200,000 that we will be pulling down as soon as it is made available. And then, also, in private grants, those are typically funded on the front end. And so, we do have some funds there that have not been expended yet. 

Looking at budget versus year-to-date projected actuals, again, we're projecting right now that we're going to be right on budget. Net revenue, it's just $300,000 variance right there, and right now, it's all up in revenue. Looking at our expenses, it's lining up pretty well with how we have it budgeted. 

Monthly, we are a little bit over in operating costs. That's just a timing issue of when things hit versus when we have it budgeted. And then, salary and benefits are showing just a little bit over what we had budgeted. 

Year-to-date, which is, again, just one month, you can see there that salary was just slightly over what we had budgeted. Operating costs a little bit above. That one is a timing issue. 

And then, debt services, straight on. And again, budget versus actual, pretty much right where we see. And that is it, unless y'all have any questions for me. 

Can you tell me what's making the salaries and benefits already over in the first quarter, the first time? We had more student workers that were hired in September than we've had in years past. And so, when we allocate the total salary expense, it's always based on the percentages of the prior year. So, I think that's going to even itself out. 

But we had more student workers hired earlier this year than we did in prior years. That makes up for more than the vacancies that we have? For this one month, yes. But I think as we go through the year, like I say, I think it's going to work. 

It's going to come together. Questions? Okay. Next up is public comment.

(26:03 - 32:15)
No one signed up, Mr. Chairman. Moving right along. Agenda. 

The administration recommends that the board approve the new hires as presented below. So moved. Second. 

I have a motion by Regent Cotton and a second by, was it you, Judy? Rick. Second by Regent Geralds. Any discussion on this item? Hearing none, all in favor say aye. 

Aye. Any opposed? Okay. Next, new business. 

Consideration of a partial tuition waiver for participants in the Pathways from Prison to Post-Secondary Education Program. The administration recommends that the board approve a partial tuition waiver for students enrolled in the Pathways from Prison to Post-Secondary Education Program. Do I have a motion on this? So moved. 

Second. I have a motion by Regent Warford and a second by Regent Morfano. Discussion on this item? I'm assuming the larger amount in fiscal year 26 is because the program will be ramping up? That is correct. 

Okay. I believe right now we're only talking about 14 students, correct, who are in this situation. So, and I guess the background that you might want to know is that the board supported our application for this. 

We were awarded, it's about $750,000 or exactly, from the Greater Texas Foundation and the Trellis Corporation, supporting our students at the Plains State Prison who are coming to Lee College. And we're providing them wraparound supports including housing, etc. But as you might guess, it's very difficult for our students who are coming from that incarcerated education program who are entering the free world to obtain housing. 

It's been extremely difficult. And so if we're not able to obtain housing in our taxing district, it puts them in that other category and that difference in tuition is very important to those students. So, but the board is the only entity that's allowed to change that, prove that different rate. 

Okay. Any other discussion on this item? All in favor, say aye. Aye. 

Any opposed? Okay. Next up, consideration of approval of Charlie's Plumbing, Inc. to provide plumbing services for ADA Phase II and life safety projects. 

The administration recommends that the board authorize the president or her designee to negotiate final terms and approve Charlie's Plumbing, Inc. for ADA Phase II and life safety projects plumbing services estimated at $200,701. Do I have a motion on this item? So moved. 

Thank you. I have a motion by Regent Hall and a second by Regent Guillory. Discussion on this item? This was discussed at length at our board meeting, building committee meeting yesterday? Yesterday? Yes, yesterday. 

All right. If there's no other discussion, all in favor, say aye. Aye. 

Any opposed? Motion carries. All right. Consideration of approval of Sledge Engineering for Construction Engineering and Consulting Services. 

The administration recommends that the board authorize the president or her designee to negotiate final terms and approve an agreement with Sledge Engineering for Construction Engineering and Consulting Professional Services not to exceed $200,000. Do I have a motion on this item? So moved. Second. 

I have a motion by Regent Orford and a second by Regent Cotton. Any discussion on this item? This is for 24-25? Yes. We have to come back for another year if we want to. 

Okay. And actually, we could have to modify this shorter than a year depending on how much we're utilizing them because it's a not to exceed number. So depending on what we put them to work on, we could have to change it. 

But that will come back to the Any other discussion on this? All right. Hearing none, all in favor, say aye. Aye. 

Any opposed? Consideration of approval to publish a request for proposals for the cosmetology relocation and renovation project. The administration recommends that the board authorize the president or her designee to publish a request for proposals for cosmetology relocation and renovation project at 700 West Texas Avenue, Suite 100. Do I have a motion on this item? So moved. 

Second. Okay. That was a motion by Regent Geralds and a second by Regent Morofano. 

Any discussion on this item? Hearing none. Are we growing or just a renovation? We're moving things around and improving some of the spaces. I don't think this is, this is not an expansion.

(32:20 - 32:49)
We're TV8 right now, which we'll be getting rid of is at 3,300 square feet and this is gonna be about 6,400 altogether. Any other questions? They've gotten some nice upgrades cosmetology in the last several years. Yeah, I have a question. 

I failed to ask this in building meeting. Does this include the cost of taking down the metal building? No. Okay.

(32:51 - 33:16)
Yes, renovation costs. Yes. Okay. 

If there's no more discussion, all in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Next, we have consideration of the adoption of the 2024-2025 tax levy order and resolution.

(33:16 - 39:51)
The administration recommends that the board adopt the 2024-2025 tax levy order and resolution fixing and levying the Lee College District ad valorem maintenance and operations rate of .17597 per $100 valuation and debt service rate of .02413 per $100 valuation for a combined rate of .2001 per $100 valuation for the fiscal year 2024-2025. Do I have a motion? So moved. Second. 

And Susan is going to read what the motion is precisely. Okay. The Board of Regents is adopting a tax rate for the 2024 tax year of .17597 maintenance and operation rate and .02413 debt service rate for a total ad valorem rate tax rate of .2001. This rate is below the voter approval rate and below the no new revenue rate. 

That is the motion. Okay. And that is the motion you were making, Weston? Yes, sir. 

Okay. So a motion by Weston and that was a second by Regent Geralds. Okay. 

Very good. Discussion on this item? I have a couple of comments and some questions. As you know, I'm concerned about this level and so my I believe it's a bit high to support our spending needs and I think I've made that point. 

So I just help me understand, I guess, and maybe make the point clear. Last year we received $11 million more than we spent so we had a surplus and I think we're going to roll some expenses into that or come down. This year we're adding $6 million more to what was budgeted last year. 

That's a total of about a $17 million increase of recommended spending for this year over what we actually spent last year in that neighborhood. So my question is, do we really do we need to have a tax rate that supports this? Is this possible that we could actually increase our spending by that level? Because that's what we would have to to do. Our budget would be going up to $89 million. 

I think our spending was in the 70s. Is there, I'm struggling with this and because we budget at such a rate, we're having to set a tax rate and then we end up with a surplus which we've had the six previous years and the rate of surplus is escalating. So is your question, do we have $17 million worth of need that we're going to spend it? My question is, do we have $17 million worth of actual spending that we can bring online this year that we didn't bring on last year? We have hundreds of millions of dollars of need. 

That's not my question. Okay. My question is, is that we're, is the budget too high forcing the tax rate too high? I believe with continued surpluses every year we've established a pattern of having much money left over. 

We're not budgeting. Either we budget it or we lower the tax rates. In my view. 

And this lowers the tax rate almost five percent in one swap. Yeah, but our income, it doesn't matter what we're lowering it as a percentage, the bills are still going up as demonstrated by how much we receive for each penny. My concern is we are not spending what we're taking in currently by a long shot and this year probably 25 percent of our tax collection was a surplus and I'm struggling with that and so I've made that point before. 

I'm just wondering how we're going to spend, we've increased our budget for maintenance and things like that on campus, but I don't see any plan to increase our spending 17 million or 15 million or over last year because we didn't spend it last year. My question is, is there something that is not that a big ticket item or something that is going to consume 17 or 15 million dollars more money this year than in our last fiscal year that we need to set this level of taxation? We have several big ticket items that we are in the process of wanting to move forward which is why and we're happy that the board has approved the engagement and approval for sledge and I would add that there is still a great deal of uncertainty with the amount of revenue that we have been allocated from our state appropriations. That is in flux. 

We do not know, we've set aside, how much of the unknown? Annette, can you come to the mic please? So we've set aside at least 1 million for FAST, the FAST program, because we have no idea how much more we're going to have to pay for that program. It doesn't pay for itself and then another 1.6 million that we do not know we may receive or not, right, be clawed back and then as we all know we're going to be going to the legislative session in January and the entire process of our appropriations request is at stake again, 100 percent over again. And as a matter of fact we've been instructed to ask for a little over a million dollars less than what we have received in appropriations.

(39:52 - 40:24)
Is that for next year or for this year, for this budget year? No, that's for the next biennium. The legislative appropriations would be for the next biennium. So that would be for next year? Not directly, no. 

We won't know the impact on this until February. That's when they will let us know if we are able to keep the money that they have appropriated to us or if we're going to have to send money back and we won't know that until February. And that's what you refer to as the clawback? Yes.

(40:25 - 40:40)
And that clawback is 1.6 million? I don't know. We don't know what that amount will be until February. Do they give any indication? Will they claw it all back? No, they can't claw it all back.

(40:40 - 43:23)
Okay. So my question, I go back to my question. We are setting a tax rate for spending levels that are 17 million dollars, if my numbers are correct, above what our actual spending, because you said, you know, everything was 6 million dollars income and expenses above last year's budget, but we didn't meet last year's budget. 

In fact, we ended up with a substantial surplus. So I go back to my question, is there anything that's going to change in the operation? I'm not talking about two years down the road or clawback or anything like that. It's talking about within this budget year, because in my view, if we have a 5 cent surplus from last year, we've kind of carried that over this year. 

And so we're looking at another 10 million dollar surplus in my view. Well, at our last budget meeting, I was asked how the budget was developed. And I think I went through that pretty thoroughly with you guys. 

And so what I can tell you is the rate that we are recommending is the rate that would support the budget that has already been adopted. So are there going to be changes? Probably. Probably. 

I mean, a budget is a plan. It's not a guarantee, right? So there could be changes. Revenue could be less. 

Expenses could be more. But it's the best estimate that we have at the time that the plan is developed. So if we missed it by something in this year's budget, would we not have the availability of the 10, 11 million dollars from last year's surplus to cover any changes? I don't know the answer to that question, because the board has not given me direction on how to allocate any surplus that we had for last year. 

And the amount of that surplus has not been determined yet either. Yeah, because we were speculating. Let's just, yeah, let's say it's nine or eight. 

That still would be more than adequate to cover any clawback request. Again, I haven't been instructed by the board on how to allocate any operating surplus funds at this point. So I don't know how those funds might or might not play into any shortfall of the current year. 

But it would be our, it would be the board's option of how to allocate that. If we saw a clawback request, we could fund it. The board directs the allocation of all operating surplus every year.

(43:24 - 43:45)
Well, would it not be prudent if we don't know what it's going to be not to spend that money? Yes. Till we find out? That is the point of clawback. So I still understand what Regent Hall is saying, because I wouldn't think that, I don't know, the clawback would be six, seven, eight, ten million dollars.

(43:48 - 44:15)
I think we can accomplish both, but it would be prudent not to spend it. But I think I kind of side with Regent Hall about the surpluses. So there's the FAST program. 

We don't know what that's going to cost us either. We've approved that to move forward. Is it in the budget? Is the FAST program in the budget? Yes. 

So we've carved out a million dollars. But we don't know that that's enough. We don't.

(44:15 - 44:33)
It's a guess. We do know, though, that 63% of our dual enrollment students who are eligible for FAST are now participating. So that's a significant number, and we anticipate that that will just increase, obviously, over time.

(44:34 - 44:59)
So when that was calculated, what we put in the budget, the million? Well, we had no idea. We just knew that the population that could potentially be involved, but we had no way of truly calculating an estimate. But all we knew was the amount that the state would reimburse us per credit hour. 

They increased it by like a dollar. A dollar, 56 cents. It was very little.

(45:02 - 45:48)
And I can just tell you that from my colleagues that we understand that it's not covering our costs to provide that, but it's such an important part of our mission, and we're happy. I don't know about Annette, but I'm happy to spend that money for that cause and that program. One of the things about the FAST program and the tuition and fees that we're supposed to cover, the law says we're supposed to cover everything. 

And the biggest unknown, you know that all programs are not created equal. You have some programs that may have a textbook. You have other programs that may have a textbook, plus other materials, plus additional things.

(45:49 - 46:06)
Fees are very widely. And so it's hard to project at that point exactly what the cost of FAST will be. So that's really one of the unknowns of the FAST program, which makes it, the best guess was what the administration recommended.

(46:07 - 47:00)
But we do know with certainty that it is a loss and it does not cover the costs of the FAST program. And as Annette pointed out, a budget is a plan, and the plan that we adopted a couple of meetings ago, what was the net surplus or deficit in the budget that we adopted? Zero. Exactly, a balanced budget. 

And now we are attempting to adopt the tax rate that supports said zero-based budget. Okay, you're absolutely right. It may end up in a surplus, but we don't know that. 

And the fact that last year or the year before did doesn't mean this one will. It is a plan. Well, can I respond to that? And where I'm going with this is that we're having discussions now that should have taken place in the budgeting process, not the tax rate.

(47:00 - 48:19)
Well, we didn't know what the tax rate was going to be. But let me say, you said the last couple, the last six budgets have had surpluses, seven million, eight million, seven and a half, five, five, nine and a half million, and now over 10 or 11 million, we're not sure exactly. That's not just the last few years. 

That's a systemic issue of not meeting our budget as far as spending, or I hate to use the word needing, but maybe the budget is set too high. Yes, it is a plan. But when we set the tax rate, that's not a plan for everybody that's having to pay it. 

That's a demand. And if we're collecting roughly, on average, 20 percent more than what we're needing, or spending, rather, I'm not going to say need, but what we're spending in Avalorim taxes, without an explanation for each one of these years, and there's a little bit different explanation, but what's brought up this year, last year it was kind of the same thing the year before, but we've built up a substantial reserve to cover any of these contingencies many times over. We can cover the million dollar shortfall on the FAST program 10 times over just with last year's surplus.

(48:19 - 48:29)
Just with last year's surplus. But our insurance is not. It's far, far less than it ought to be. 

So we ought to be addressing that. We're self-insured. Didn't we address that in our budget? We are.

(48:29 - 48:39)
We're putting money, it's all. If you look at what's in there right now, if we had a catastrophe, we're not in good shape. We made a decision on $400,000 or whatever it was a year ago.

(48:40 - 49:07)
And we're doing that. Yeah. There's a way to, and that's a totally different subject. 

I'm just saying we're setting, we're not spending the money that we're taxing people, and we're telling them that we have to have it to have a balanced budget. Back in the day, 10, 20 years ago, our previous financial person used to tell us that if we pile up too much money and the state gets short, they make them take it. And so that was kind of a warning.

(49:07 - 49:19)
It's a different day. A different day. I agree. 

A different day. But I'm struggling with this. I just, I do not see that it's justified.

(49:19 - 49:31)
I will vote no on this. What rate have you got in mind? Right now we're at 201. What are you talking about? Well, our average overage has been four and a half cents, year to year to year.

(49:31 - 50:04)
That's too big a buy. I think if we did 18, that would be half, and we'll still have a surplus of $5 million. Regent Hall, can I make just a couple comments? One is I want to remind us that, and this is before me, but that the board directed us and had planned surplus, right? So you directed us to have an amount of surplus because we had a financial crisis.

(50:05 - 50:09)
But we budgeted for that. Right. And so it was planned.

(50:09 - 50:30)
And we fixed that. We fixed that problem. The other thing that I wanted to let the board know is even in the past few days, we have been discussing additional expenses that are occurring and that we will be looking at.

(50:30 - 50:58)
So we have a, we're going to be engaging in a very strong transfer initiative and are not still quite sure, because again, this is a plan that we're engaging in, and we're not quite sure what that will cost. We have been in discussions with the city on a project that we may, you know, the board may want to enter into, but will also probably cost funding. But again, this is preliminary.

(50:59 - 51:23)
We'll be sharing this with the board when we have more information. And just had a great conversation with a nonprofit agency that wants to provide one-on-one consultation and expertise with the college to help us address mental health needs on campus, which is an important unmet basic need for our students. And so these are things that, again, it's a plan.

(51:24 - 51:39)
The budget is planned. We don't know when these things occur, but we know that, you know, there are unexpected and unanticipated expenses that will arise. Any other discussion on this item? I just, that's what we have so far.

(51:41 - 51:43)
Okay. She can't find it. Yeah.

(51:43 - 51:47)
All right. Now my phone's ringing. If there's no more discussion, I'm calling it.

(51:49 - 52:06)
So I just want for clarification, how much of a reduction is the rate that we're proposing in cents? I believe it's one penny. One penny. Is that one penny in the budget now? Okay. 

Nevermind. This rate. Okay.

(52:07 - 52:14)
All right. So I just wanted to say that this is a, I said it last time. So this is an ongoing conversation.

(52:15 - 52:43)
It's almost consistently the same things we're talking about every year at this exact same time. And I've said before, I'll say it again tonight, um, that some of the things we talk about after we've adopted the budget should have been a part of the budget discussions. Everything we didn't just find out right after we adopted this budget.

(52:43 - 52:58)
Some of these things we were aware of and we could have discussed to make sure that we plan accordingly. Um, not knowing a number. A budget is an estimated document.

(52:58 - 53:08)
You do not know. But what you do know is trends of what has happened in years past. And trends matter in every accounting world.

(53:08 - 53:38)
You are always looking at what's happened in the prior years to determine what to do in the next year. And so all of the things we keep saying about all of these projects and maybe expenses and all of those things, I haven't heard any of those things that we did not know already when we were in the budget process. So those things should have been discussed, in my opinion, to allow us to budget appropriately in an estimated fashion for those things.

(53:38 - 54:04)
So now we're going to have a surplus. I believe that surplus can be used as board directed to take care of these things that may happen. The last time we talked about this, I also talked about having a lot of money budgeted for projects and being able to actually bid them out, make the decision and have them implemented within the budget period.

(54:06 - 54:20)
You can't get them all done. So for us to continue to talk about all of this money that we're going to need for these facilities that we know we will not be able to fund and get done in this budget year. So I get it.

(54:20 - 54:31)
It's nice for the conversation. It sounds really, really good. But realistically, you will not be able to do all of those projects within this year.

(54:31 - 54:46)
And we know that. And so I am very supportive of making sure our buildings are safe, meeting all of our facility needs, I think is critical. I'm supportive of raises and all the things that we have embedded in this budget.

(54:46 - 54:57)
I am also supportive of a one and a half cent decrease in our tax rate. And that's what I'll be willing to support. I know that's not what this tax rate is calling for.

(54:57 - 55:13)
But I believe that we can do all the things that may happen, may not, could be, rhyme with, as well as take care of the facilities, make sure we're safe and decrease the tax rate a little bit more. So that's my position. And I don't have a question.

(55:13 - 55:47)
I'm just making a statement. And on behalf of the administration, I want to acknowledge Regent Killary that I agree that there are opportunities for us to engage more of these topics during the budgeting process. And because we have not been able to spend all of the money during the actual year for some of these projects, we have built in more supports and are certainly doing our very best to ensure that we have both the expertise and the manpower to complete as much as possible.

(55:47 - 55:52)
Oh, absolutely. I trust that we're doing it. It's nothing against our staff that we can't do it.

(55:52 - 56:20)
It's just that the way that the process, making and doing big projects, capital improvement projects, take time regardless of whether you have the money or the manpower. Just the process of going through that system takes time. And in order for you to get it through the books and get it bid out and awarded, and then the contractors, and then the command, the demand on what the supplies are, all of that takes time.

(56:20 - 56:38)
And we all that has been doing this, several of us have been on capital improvement. Many of you have lived this life, and you know there is no way that you're going to get all of this done within this window. And so capital improvement projects, I think, as I said before, we can look at funding these things differently.

(56:39 - 56:54)
This board can decide that we're going to have a capital improvement fund, or whatever that is, in addition to facilities, so that we can take that money. And if you don't use it, then it just rolls. And that way, you don't even have to come back and ask for it every single time.

(56:54 - 57:09)
I know that's not the way this college does it, and we don't have to do it that way. But there are ways to be able to accomplish both and have it done within the budget process so that money is designated. And if you don't use it, you don't lose it.

(57:09 - 57:18)
It is still locked in for whenever we can bid it out, whenever it can happen. So I know that it's not the staff. You guys are doing an amazing job.

(57:18 - 57:23)
But you're not the ones that really do the big, big projects. You still have to bid it out. Those are contractors.

(57:24 - 57:34)
And it does not happen overnight. Dean, are you saying an additional half cent from what is proposed here tonight? That is. Okay.

(57:34 - 57:43)
I just want a clarification. Oh, you're saying 19 and a half? No, 18 and a half. No, I'm just saying for us to decrease the rate by one and a half cent.

(57:43 - 57:49)
On top of the budget? Right. Which already has a penny in it. No, no, one and a half total.

(57:50 - 57:58)
No, one and a half cent total. No, ma'am, not one plus the one and a half. No, just one and a half cent.

(57:59 - 58:12)
And I would just like to point out, and I agree with Gina, I'm not opposed to any of the spending in the budget for improvements or anything. I agree with her. I think we can accomplish all of these goals.

(58:13 - 58:28)
It just has to do with the budget process and the fact that we keep ending up with a bunch of money that is not attached to anything. And that scares me a bit. And I think we built our reserves.

(58:29 - 58:33)
We had a definite purpose. I knew about that. I saw that coming too.

(58:33 - 58:51)
And so I definitely see, you didn't hear a word out of me for several years as we rebuilt the reserves, but I think we're there. And I think we could give the taxpayers a little bit more of a break. Because while we have lowered the rate, the values have gone up 50 or 60 percent.

(58:52 - 59:17)
And that's real dollars for businesses and homeowners. And I want to compliment, I also think this is the fact that we underspend our budget shows that you're doing a good job of riding herd on all of the spending projects and things that we do have going on campus. And I want to commend you and the administration for that.

(59:17 - 59:21)
I'm sincere about that. I have great confidence. It's just this process.

(59:22 - 59:43)
So I don't know if we can assuage your fears, Regent Hall. I would just add again that, well, I want to add, and I haven't addressed this earlier, that this type of surplus for colleges is not uncommon. This is something that happens regularly.

(59:43 - 1:00:07)
And again, as Regent Guillory discussed, and we've talked about, the budget is a plan. And we acknowledge that these projects take time, that we don't necessarily finish them as we had planned. But that's why we're increasing the manpower and hiring sledge to move faster and to complete these projects.

(1:00:07 - 1:00:27)
And I know we all agree that there are these needs. And I think that there's obviously things that we can do to improve the budgeting process by having more of these discussions that you mentioned earlier. But we would, again, stand by the recommendation that we've made that, one, that this is common.

(1:00:27 - 1:00:35)
We have needs. And we do intend to spend this money. But we thank you for the- OK.

(1:00:35 - 1:00:42)
I just asked what was going to change. And I haven't heard anything that was going to change. I'll just remind you.

(1:00:43 - 1:00:59)
Mr. President, I would just point out that nobody that I know of on this board has set through a tax election. It is emotionally and financially and physically draining. Got it? Don't give it up.

(1:00:59 - 1:01:07)
Because if you give it up, when you get it back, it's going to cost you. Yes. Both it never remembers what you gave them.

(1:01:07 - 1:01:17)
They'll remember what you're trying to take. OK. If there's no more discussion, we'll bring this item to a vote.

(1:01:17 - 1:01:30)
We'll do a hand vote. So all in favor of the motion as has been established, raise your right hand. One, two, three, four.

(1:01:30 - 1:01:34)
And I have four all opposed. Raise your right hand. OK.

(1:01:35 - 1:01:48)
We have a tie. I move that we adopt a rate, all the language that Susan put in there, but a rate of totaling 19.5 cents. I make that as a motion.

(1:01:49 - 1:01:57)
OK. All right. We have a motion by Regent Hall and a second by Regent Hemsel.

(1:01:57 - 1:02:24)
What I will point out to the group, just so we'll have it, is that if we fail to adopt a rate tonight, we will have one more bite at the apple. Do I remember that correctly? Yeah. We have to adopt a rate by the end of the month.

(1:02:25 - 1:02:43)
That's October 31st. Or the default rate would be the lower of the current rate or the no new revenue rate. And the current rate that we are proposing is below both of those rates.

(1:02:43 - 1:03:01)
So it would actually be a rate increase if we did not adopt a rate before the end of the month. Are we meeting any more before the end of the month? Not at current. So what's proposed is just an additional half cent, right? Half cent.

(1:03:01 - 1:03:13)
What would the revenue result, the revenue change would be from a half cent? What would that amount to? It's about a million. It's about two million per penny. OK.

(1:03:14 - 1:03:32)
Is that a good compromise? OK. Any discussion on the new proposal that's on the table of a cent and a half, 19 and a half cent tax rate? Do we have any discussion on this? Did you get a second on it? We did. Regent Hall made the motion and Regent Himsel made the second.

(1:03:32 - 1:03:51)
Could you repeat the value that you want? The total value being 19.5. That's one and a half cents. Point of order, Mr. Chairman. The numbers need to change on.

(1:03:51 - 1:04:01)
Right. And I was just about to ask for that result because the debt service rate has to stay static. So the change has to come from the other side.

(1:04:02 - 1:04:31)
So can we talk through that now so that we know what we're voting on? Annette, you want to give us what the specific breakdown would be? I don't want to butcher the math, but if you want to give us that number. Very good at adding and subtracting. So I know.

(1:04:33 - 1:05:29)
Just check my math. Is that correct? 19.5 addition, which makes it just one and a half cents. 17097 and then the other one doesn't change.

(1:05:30 - 1:06:02)
So I would correct my motion that the one rate would be one. What was that number again? I was just going to read it for you. So we would be looking at a maintenance and operations rate of 0.17097 per $100 evaluation and a debt service rate of 0.02413 for a total of 0.19510. Yes.

(1:06:03 - 1:06:18)
Okay. Any discussion on this item? Hearing none. All in favor of the 19.5 cent rate as proposed by Regent Hall, raise your right hand.

(1:06:23 - 1:06:29)
Okay. I've got five there. Any opposed to that item? Raise your right hand.

(1:06:30 - 1:06:33)
Okay. And two opposed. The motion carries.

(1:06:33 - 1:06:46)
We have adopted a tax rate. So okay. That brings us to executive session, which I believe we do have.

(1:06:47 - 1:07:03)
All right. The meeting of the Lee College Board of Regents on above listed date after proper posting and in accordance with Chapter 551 of the Texas Government Code for the specific purposes provided will recess from open meeting to close. No action will be taken while the board is recessed in executive session.

(1:07:04 - 1:07:23)
Closed meeting will adjourn and the board will reconvene into open meeting. Matters of concern for future agendas. I had one item that I'd like to get some information on and that is the building, the old Ice House building across Pruitt Street.

(1:07:24 - 1:07:54)
If we could get a little bit of understanding of what our plan there is and if it's possible, could we see if there's opportunity to sell that building and not spend the money to tear it down, but possibly sell it and get it back on the tax roll? Because it's still a pretty solid building and I think someone who makes that may have a use for it. Would that just be covered with facilities, with the building? Yes. With the committee? It is regularly discussed in building committee.

(1:07:54 - 1:07:56)
Okay. So you just had an update. As recently as yesterday.

(1:07:57 - 1:07:58)
On the list. Yeah. It's on the list.

(1:07:58 - 1:08:04)
Nothing's been decided yet and when there is a recommendation from the building committee, it'll come to the full board. It'll come. Okay.

(1:08:04 - 1:08:27)
While y'all are talking about it, could we maybe talk to a realtor or someone to see if there's some value to it? Because I don't think we're looking down that approach. I think our approach is to demo, but to see if there's a potential that's got some value. If we can suffer a couple hundred thousand bucks instead of spending a hundred thousand, because we're not going to use that property across Pruitt Street.

(1:08:28 - 1:08:36)
Items of future? Anybody else? Any other items for future agendas? Hearing none, this meeting is adjourned.