OPINION

The College of the Mainland has been a staple of Galveston County for more than 50 years. This fall,
voters will decide on improving the aging Texas City campus by voting on a $162.5 million bond referendum.
COM’s program offerings are clearly attractive to students, with enrollment growing 21% over the past
10 years. In order to keep up with the demand for increased program capacity and to introduce new programs,
the COM Board of Trustees in June accepted a recommendation made by the Citizens Bond Advisory Committee.
The committee, a volunteer group of 40+ representing a strong cross-section of the college’s service area,
met for months to review the college’s long-range facility plans and academic master plan, analyze program
offerings and future plans, and tour existing facilities to get a first-hand look and a better understanding
of program deficiencies and needs. I was part of this advisory committee and encourage eligible voters to
approve this bond proposition.
The COM Bond is 100% focused on student success, will greatly improve the nursing, allied health
and industrial technology labor pool in our region and is fiscally responsible. Plus, 100% of the funds in the
2018 Bond will be spent on the COM main campus in Texas City.
The bond includes funding for the construction of a STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts
and Mathematics)/Allied Health building, an IndustrialCareers building and a Student Success Center to
house all student enrollment offices such as admissions, financial aid, and advising. The bond proposal
also calls for additions and renovations to the campus fine arts building as well as the expansion of the college’s
physical plant and technology upgrades.
By state law, COM cannot construct any buildings outside its taxing district. The new STEAM/Allied
Health building will have the capacity to house the Allied Health programs that currently are offered at
a leased location in League City, bringing those programs back to the main campus.
So how did we get here? Taxpayers in the taxing district (including the then La Marque school district)
voted in December 1966 to approve $2.85 million for the building of the administration building, the Learning
Resource Center (library), the Technical-Vocational Building, the Math-Science building and central
utilities building. The only other approved bond – $4.75 million in 1970 – was for the building of the Fine
Arts building, Physical Education complex, Student Center and an addition to the Technical-Vocational
and Math-Science buildings.
Since that time, a 20,000-square-foot expansion of the Technical-Vocational Building was completed in
1985; two Industrial Education Buildings were constructed in 1991 and a 10,000-square-foot Public
Service Careers Building came along in 1999. None of these buildings were constructed using bond money.
Today, our community college calls. Now is the time to make an investment in COM and positively impact
the students, businesses and many communities of College of the Mainland for decades to come.
At its peak, the bond will cost only $11.80 per month (39 cents per day) for the owner of a $120,800 home,
which is the average home value in the COM taxing district, after exemptions.
For each of the school districts in the COM taxing
district, the bond would cost:
Dickinson ISD: Avg. taxable home value of $130,955 = $12.79/month
Hitchcock ISD: Avg. taxable home value of $126,679 = $12.37/month
Santa Fe ISD: Avg. taxable home value of $162,860 = $15.90/month
Texas City ISD: Avg. taxable home value of $73,597 = $7.19/month
Senior citizens age 65 and older who have filed for a homestead exemption should not see their taxes
go up.
A vote “for” the 2018 College of the Mainland Bond will give our community college the opportunity to
provide for the needs of our students and the Gulf Coast regional workforce moving forward. I urge you
to join me in supporting this bond measure. Early voting for the bond election will run from Monday,
Oct. 22 through Friday, Nov. 2. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 6.