College cuts tax levy hike

Thursday, September 11, 2003

The Mid Plains Community College Board of Governors reached a compromise with taxpayers Wednesday night when they agreed to raise the college's property tax levy by $0.00500 instead of the proposed $0.00900 per $100 of valuation.

The board met with opposition from a number of people including Bob Lesso, a member of the Western Nebraska Taxpayers Association, who encouraged the board to make cuts rather than increase property taxes. He suggested cutting the athletic scholarships handed out by the college.

Board member Rick Kolkman told the group he thought it was time for taxpayers to begin looking at the structure of the tax system in Nebraska.

After an amendment to reduce the published property tax levy request for the general fund from the 6.9 cents per $100 of property valuation, to 6.5 cents per $100 of property valuation, the board voted 9-1 to adopt the property tax levy for the 2003-04 year.

Board member Glenda Hasenauer voted against the measure. The governors also approved a 1-cent per $100 of property valuation for the institution's capital fund.

The total tax asking for the Mid-Plains Community College Area will be 7.5 cents per $100 valuation. The board adopted the $20.45 million budget for the 2003-04 year, with Hasenauer also voting no. The adjustment will mean approximately $800,000 in reserves must be used to balance the budget.

The board approved the development of an extended campus in Imperial. A half-time coordinator will be hired to man the site.

In other action:

-- The board approved the purchase of 14 laptop computers and 200 desktop computers from Omni-Tech Systems in the amount of $198,930.

-- The board approved the purchase of a campus-wide Microsoft license from Software Plus for $20,837.

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