Photo credit: Midland College

Editor’s note: Midland College releases Board of Trustees meeting minutes in the agenda packet for the following meeting. As a result, The Permian Press received the Aug. 18 minutes in the Sept. 15 meeting agenda.

What happened: Midland College trustees met on Monday, Aug. 18, and approved a 2026-27 operating budget that includes a 5% pay raise for all full-time employees and voted 6-1 to propose a no-new-revenue tax rate.

Key points:

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  • Budget, tax rate: Trustees voted to adopt the 2026-27 operating budget. The plan includes a 5% salary increase for all full-time employees and adds 23 staff positions. The budget also accounts for an 8% increase in health insurance costs and includes roughly $227,000 in new instructional supplies and materials and $304,000 in software.

Trustees voted 6-1 to propose a no-new-revenue rate. The no-new-revenue rate is calculated to generate roughly the same amount of property tax revenue from properties taxed in both years, with revenue from new construction added on top. Trustee Adrian Carrasco cast the lone dissenting vote.

  • Applied Technology Complex: Trustees voted unanimously to qualify 10 firms for Construction Manager at Risk services for the Applied Technology Complex project. The college estimates the complex will cost between $47.4 million and $53.7 million to build, funded through oil and gas revenue rather than a new bond.
  • Campus surveillance: Trustees voted to purchase a $1.2 million college-wide video surveillance system funded from the college’s current fund balance. The system includes approximately 260 various indoor and outdoor cameras along with ten viewing stations and ten-year software licenses, funded from the college’s current fund balance.

The purchase does not include network switches, installation services, or cabling, and college staff will present the items separately as the project moves forward.

  • Enrollment: President Damon Kennedy reported that enrollment grew from 4,442 students in 2023 to 7,011. The college’s current enrollment goal is 8,080 students.