Photo credit: Midland College

What to watch: Midland College trustees will meet Tuesday, Sept. 15, to formally adopt the 2026 tax rate, vote on a $195,000 preconstruction services agreement for the Applied Technology Complex, and honor the Fort Stockton leader who helped bring the college’s regional training center to Pecos County 30 years ago.

Key items:

  • Property tax rate: Trustees will vote to adopt the 2026 property tax rate. Trustees voted in August 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.
  • Applied Technology Complex: Trustees may authorize a $195,000 preconstruction services agreement. The board qualified 10 firms for the Construction Manager at Risk process at its August meeting. A selection committee shortlisted four and conducted interviews.

The agreement would allow the chosen firm to work with the project’s architect on cost estimating, value engineering, and scheduling before bringing a full construction contract to the board. Funding for the project comes from oil and gas revenue.

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The agenda packet says the college has received $16.2 million in oil and gas revenue toward the project to date and committed $3 million to architect fees, leaving $13.2 million in project funds.

  • Honor resolution Judge Shuster: Trustees may approve a resolution recognizing Judge Joe Shuster, the former mayor of Fort Stockton, for his role in establishing the college’s Williams Regional Technical Training Center in Pecos County in the 1990s.

The WRTTC is marking 30 years of operation this year. Shuster also helped establish the Scholars’ Dollars Scholarship Fund, which the college says has supported students for more than two decades.

  • Supplemental childcare pay: Trustees may approve $2,000 in salary supplements from the Education Partnership of the Permian Basin (EPPB) for four day care employees as retention bonuses. The EPPB is providing the funds, not the college.
  • Legacy Scholars 40th anniversary: The board will receive a presentation on a Phi Theta Kappa project tied to the Legacy Scholars program’s 40th anniversary.

The Legacy Scholarship program provides needs-based, full-tuition scholarships to Midland College students, funded by four local foundations: the Abell-Hanger Foundation, the Scharbauer Foundation, the Helen Greathouse Charitable Trust, and the Chaparral Foundation. The program also includes leadership training, community involvement, and success coaching.