Alamo Colleges District plans to increase property tax rate to balance budget

Alamo Colleges District is considering a tax rate increase for the first time in more than a decade as it faces a $28 million budget deficit.

On Saturday, its board of trustees unanimously approved a balanced budget for fiscal year 2027 that hinges on a property tax rate increase.

The community college district will hold a separate vote this fall to raise the maintenance and operations portion of its tax rate by $0.0125, which by law does not require an election.

Without a tax increase, district officials warned they would likely have to start sunsetting student-focused programs, such as AlamoADVICE, AlamoBOOKS+ and AlamoPROMISE — which has helped more than 30,000 local students start college tuition free. These flagship programs make up $48.7 million in the district’s overall $585.8 million operating budget for fiscal year 2027.

If approved by the board, the maintenance and operations portion of the tax will go from $0.108 to $0.120 for fiscal year 2027, raising the total tax rate to $0.162.

For a home valued at the median homestead of $271,000, the increase would mean homeowners would pay an additional $2.82 per month or $33.84 per year.

The district’s tax rate had remained unchanged since 2013, but a big dip in Bexar County’s property values has impacted the district’s revenue.

In May, the City of San Antonio announced plans to propose its first tax rate increase in 33 years after Bexar County released preliminary data on the 2026 property valuations showing an average decrease of 11% in home values.

“There were a couple things that we had not seen the dollar impact of, and that is the business exemptions, which was several billion dollars, and also the finance corporations that were several billion dollars statewide,” Alamo Colleges District Chancellor Mike Flores said after the meeting. “Those repercussions were not realized until this tax year.”

Alamo Colleges District consists of five local colleges — San Antonio College, St. Philip’s College, Palo Alto College, Northwest Vista College and Northeast Lakeview College — along with five education and training centers. Enrollment for academic year 2025-26 reached 89,000 and officials expect to reach 100,000 students by 2028.

Keeping the current tax rate would mean cutting back on facilities maintenance and improvements, a reduction in student services, talent investments and would be a hit to the district’s reserves, according to officials.

The approved budget for fiscal year 2027 includes a $9.5 million talent strategy investment that calls for a 2% market compensation adjustment for all employees, with a minimum increase of $2,000.

Before the vote took place, Flores reminded the board how these programs started in connection to their moonshot, which is to end poverty in the region through education.

“In 2018, we launched our moonshot. In 2019, the board approved the creation of the AlamoPROMISE. In 2020, pre-COVID, the board funded the expansion of the student advocacy centers to all five of the colleges. In 2021, the board approved the funding of Alamo BOOKS+, lowering the average cost of instructional materials,” Flores said. “These flagship investments have driven results for a growing student population.”

Currently, property tax revenue makes up nearly half of the district’s overall revenue, with tuition and state funding making up the majority of the other half. But recent changes, including new tax exemptions, stagnant home sales and property values, have resulted in the college’s revenue not keeping up with the growth in enrollment and program demand.

Enrollment has increased at more than three times the pace of revenue, officials say, and due to an ongoing tuition and fees freeze in Texas, the only revenue source they have full control over at the moment is the local tax rate.

“And the reason why I’m highlighting it is not because [Gov. Greg Abbott] sent us a nice reminder of the tuition and fee freeze. It’s a reminder that he’s actually looking to continue that tuition and fee freeze going into the next biennium,” said Priscilla Camacho, Alamo Colleges District chief legislative, industry and external relations officer.

Without the state-wide tuition freeze, Flores said the district could consider raising tuition for high-demand, high-wage programs only, rather than a broad raise. But as of this year, that is not an option.

Despite the likely tax increase, the district will also have to tighten its belt in other ways, officials said. This includes a systemwide vendor contract review and renegotiation, enhancing shared services across the colleges, and staffing optimization, which Flores said would not mean layoffs, but prioritizing faculty and advisor positions, over any other open or new position across the district.

“Those that are student-focused, there will be some exceptions, but largely those are the ones that are going to be key and those are the positions that would be filled during this period,” Flores said. “Very similar to what we did during COVID. So, faculty in the classroom, certified advisors, [those] assisting students on their pathway to graduation. Those are prioritized.”

The San Antonio Report partners with Open Campus on higher education coverage.

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