What is the real story about Talent Pipeline Initiative Steering Committee and Blinn College? I know if you follow the money long enough the really story comes out, but what is the real story. Are people really going to sign a petition to increase taxes in Brazos count?
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Talent Pipeline Initiative?
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Last: 7 yr ago by isitjustme
It's not needed.
Blinn and Vista fill that need and for anyone that wants to go beyond that there is A&M, Sam, and online degrees.
Blinn and Vista fill that need and for anyone that wants to go beyond that there is A&M, Sam, and online degrees.
Yes that is really what they're pushing for. Yes, some people will really sign it. I'm sure it will be a VERY hotly contest item for the next decade or more.Baseball32 said:
Are people really going to sign a petition to increase taxes in Brazos count?
The legal process to do it is something like:
1. Voters sign a petition that gets sent to Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB).
2. THECB will probably recommend to the state legislature that a bill be passed to create a community college. For ease of conversation, lets just start calling it Brazos County College (BCC). It'll be on legislative calendar in 2017.
3. Voters in Brazos County will then have to set what BCC's tax rate will be, usually by a vote at the ballot box. That rate is going to be somewhere between 0.05% and 0.35%. For a $200,000 valuation on a home, that equates to a tax increase of between $100 and $700 per year. It'd probably be on the ballot in November 2018.
4. BCC will then generate tax revenue for a year to hire some staff, buy some land, get a campus master plan together, and prepare a bond package.
5. Sometime in 2020, BCC will try to get voters to approve a bond package. Bond value = current annual tax revenue (about $30M) X bond duration (10 years) minus interest. Let's just guess $300M. Those bonds will go to build the buildings in 2021 and 2022. We taxpayers spend the next 10+ years paying down those bonds.
6. First students start at BCC in 2022 and get their certificates in 2023. Meanwhile it will take a few years for the school to get the kinks worked out so the first marketable BCC grads won't really arrive until at least 2025.
The way it was explained to me, Blinn is making a killing on feeding A&M. With 80% + of the enrollment concentrating on first and second year undergrad classes.
The area employers and economic development types that recruit businesses realize more workforce training and employees are needed. Think certificate programs for manufacturing like welding, CNC operators.
Blinn would rather be a pipeline to A&M.
So, if Blinn doesn't want to address the workforce training need, the locals will address it. Whether the solution is Blinn expand, bring in TSTC, or create a new Community College remains to be seen, but that is how I understand this initiative.
The area employers and economic development types that recruit businesses realize more workforce training and employees are needed. Think certificate programs for manufacturing like welding, CNC operators.
Blinn would rather be a pipeline to A&M.
So, if Blinn doesn't want to address the workforce training need, the locals will address it. Whether the solution is Blinn expand, bring in TSTC, or create a new Community College remains to be seen, but that is how I understand this initiative.
Blinn has had welding classes for years. They have truck driving, electrical, air conditioning, and a bunch of healthcare classes also. So the petition is for us to jack up our taxes to pay for something we're already getting?
Where do they host those classes, Washington County or in Brazos? I think a large reason the pro-BCC side wants to increase our taxes are because the courses are currently "all the way over" in Brenham.
What I understand is that although Blinn offers a wide variety of the vocational/technical courses desired, they do not offer all of them and much of what they offer is not offered in Brazos county. "All the way over in Brenham" may not sound like an inconvenience, but many of those who would benefit from these courses are high school students and that is imo a bit far to expect high school students to travel on a regular basis.
My favorite solution is for Blinn to expand their offering of these courses in Brazos county, and fill all the holes as far as what is desired. I would also welcome a Blinn partnership with TSTC, Vista, or a similar group to expand offerings.
I will not sign the petition for a new taxing entity, and if on the ballot, I will campaign and vote against it.
My favorite solution is for Blinn to expand their offering of these courses in Brazos county, and fill all the holes as far as what is desired. I would also welcome a Blinn partnership with TSTC, Vista, or a similar group to expand offerings.
I will not sign the petition for a new taxing entity, and if on the ballot, I will campaign and vote against it.
Its amazing that we now expect " colleges" to teach so much of what used to be taught in the government HS system. Of course that money is better spent in all of those feel good " college prep" courses and $75 million football playpens.
I absolutely agree with the yuge need for vo-tech training. I used to be in a position where I needed welders, assembly mechanics and machinists not to mention plain ole helpers. A so-called C student " graduate" of your typical Texas government school was WORTHLESS...( but he know how many acres of rainforest in Brazil was " destroyed" today..) .
I had to hire grads from Monterey ( Mex) HS's in order to get a guy that knew how to use FRACTIONS !!!!
Why not re-instate shop courses in the HS's and allow then to offer the facilities to also teach ANYBODY who wants to pay a nominal fee. For a hundred years the government schools did produce the shop guys and the techs needed for an entire nation. Lets just return to a system that WORKED !
I absolutely agree with the yuge need for vo-tech training. I used to be in a position where I needed welders, assembly mechanics and machinists not to mention plain ole helpers. A so-called C student " graduate" of your typical Texas government school was WORTHLESS...( but he know how many acres of rainforest in Brazil was " destroyed" today..) .
I had to hire grads from Monterey ( Mex) HS's in order to get a guy that knew how to use FRACTIONS !!!!
Why not re-instate shop courses in the HS's and allow then to offer the facilities to also teach ANYBODY who wants to pay a nominal fee. For a hundred years the government schools did produce the shop guys and the techs needed for an entire nation. Lets just return to a system that WORKED !
OP.....there is some number of Brazos County citizens who don't like the fact Blinn charges more per credit hour in Bryan than in Brenham because Bryan is out of county for the Brenham based school. The enrollment in Bryan swamps the enrollment in Brenham (there's your money trail to start understanding). Efforts were made at the state legislature to address that by Brazos County reps in the past and they failed.
Each side has their spin down fairly well.
Brazos Co-Blinn is funding their Brenham operations on the backs of the Brazos Co based campus which isn't fair to Brazos Co.
Blinn Brenham-Blinn Bryan has been such a win-win situation for Brazos Co (A&M, Blinn, Bryan & CS ISD's, etc) and now you want to change the law/rules because we've been so successful. Maybe you don't appreciate success, growth, successful collaboration with the other schools, expansion, etc. You won't be happy until you control everything about the Bryan campus will you?
The Brazos County folks lost at the legislature so their next effort to try to get Blinn to blink/reduce tuition costs and concede some control is threatening to start a competing school that theoretically might eventually usurp Blinn's money cow in Bryan.....using Brazos County property tax payers as the cash cow to pay for the infrastructure and development, etc to start the competing school.
Each side has their spin down fairly well.
Brazos Co-Blinn is funding their Brenham operations on the backs of the Brazos Co based campus which isn't fair to Brazos Co.
Blinn Brenham-Blinn Bryan has been such a win-win situation for Brazos Co (A&M, Blinn, Bryan & CS ISD's, etc) and now you want to change the law/rules because we've been so successful. Maybe you don't appreciate success, growth, successful collaboration with the other schools, expansion, etc. You won't be happy until you control everything about the Bryan campus will you?
The Brazos County folks lost at the legislature so their next effort to try to get Blinn to blink/reduce tuition costs and concede some control is threatening to start a competing school that theoretically might eventually usurp Blinn's money cow in Bryan.....using Brazos County property tax payers as the cash cow to pay for the infrastructure and development, etc to start the competing school.
So the talent pipeline supporters are upset because "tuition here costs more than there"? Wouldn't a better way of looking at this be "is the education I receive worth the price I paid"? Getting a certificate from Blinn costs about $8,500 in Brenham vs $11,000 in Bryan, but both result in an increase in annual salary of much more than $10k, so they both pay for themselves many many times over. They're both worth it from a potential students perspective.Lone Stranger said:
there is some number of Brazos County citizens who don't like the fact Blinn charges more per credit hour in Bryan than in Brenham because Bryan is out of county for the Brenham based school.
Even if someone thinks that the tuition difference is an actual problem, creating a brand new community college seems like a VERY expensive way to fix that "problem".
If there was really a demand for these skilled workers in Brazos County you would think that people that had these skills would be moving here to fill these needed jobs. Some would argue that the pay here is not great enough to attract skilled workers to move here. If that is the case what is to prevent all of these newly skilled people that will be trained at the new community college from taking their new skills and moving to somewhere else that pays more.
I know that where I work when we are in need of skilled workers we hire good people, train them in the skills that we need, treat them right, pay them what they are worth and they typically become long term workers.
I know that where I work when we are in need of skilled workers we hire good people, train them in the skills that we need, treat them right, pay them what they are worth and they typically become long term workers.
Bump for news. http://wtaw.com/2016/11/30/brazos-county-committee-interested-buying-blinn-colleges-bryan-campus/
So it seems likely that this new/proposed community college would raise property taxes by 0.00175% (based on state average). That equates to a tax increase of $350 per year on a $200,000 house. That'd give them an annual funding of approximately $12M per year.
I find myself very strongly opposed to this. Seems like a very VERY expensive way to get a slight gain in educational quality and almost no gain in cost of education.
Quote:
...why the RVP wants to add another property tax in Brazos County. While the RVP says a one cent tax might be instituted, Blinn's statement says Brazos County taxpayers could face a tax rate of 17 and a half cents, which is the statewide average for community colleges. Blinn's tax rate in Washington County is near the lowest in the state at six cents.
So it seems likely that this new/proposed community college would raise property taxes by 0.00175% (based on state average). That equates to a tax increase of $350 per year on a $200,000 house. That'd give them an annual funding of approximately $12M per year.
I find myself very strongly opposed to this. Seems like a very VERY expensive way to get a slight gain in educational quality and almost no gain in cost of education.
I heard the CS mayor on the radio this morning suggesting our community would become a wasteland unless we get behind this effort. That's how I know it's a crock of crap. TPTB will be attempting to shove this down our throats for the foreseeable future, so get ready for a long siege and, as always, follow the money and hang on to you wallets.
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This is being pushed by something called "The Brazos Talent Initiative". It is described as "a product of the Research Valley Partnership, a public-private economic development corporate serving the citizens of Brazos County, Texas. In June, 2016, the Partnership formed a Talent Pipeline Initiative Steering Committee to rapidly expand career and technical training workforce development in Brazos County. We renamed the initiative the Brazos Talent Initiative to more accurately reflect our goals."
Members of the BTI are:
Andrew Nelson (Co-Chair)
Blake Tiepel
Bobby Gutierrez (Secretary),
David Reynolds
Dennis Geohring
Irma Cauley
Ivan Olson (Co-Chair)
Jason Bienski
John Nichols
Karen Ferguson
Karl Mooney
Kenny Mallard
Michael Parks
Michael Shaefffer
Mike Martindale
Milton Radke
Peter Hugill
Sid Backstrom
Stephanie Sale
Tim Rocka
---
This is being pushed by something called "The Brazos Talent Initiative". It is described as "a product of the Research Valley Partnership, a public-private economic development corporate serving the citizens of Brazos County, Texas. In June, 2016, the Partnership formed a Talent Pipeline Initiative Steering Committee to rapidly expand career and technical training workforce development in Brazos County. We renamed the initiative the Brazos Talent Initiative to more accurately reflect our goals."
Members of the BTI are:
Andrew Nelson (Co-Chair)
Blake Tiepel
Bobby Gutierrez (Secretary),
David Reynolds
Dennis Geohring
Irma Cauley
Ivan Olson (Co-Chair)
Jason Bienski
John Nichols
Karen Ferguson
Karl Mooney
Kenny Mallard
Michael Parks
Michael Shaefffer
Mike Martindale
Milton Radke
Peter Hugill
Sid Backstrom
Stephanie Sale
Tim Rocka
Ornlu said:Yes that is really what they're pushing for. Yes, some people will really sign it. I'm sure it will be a VERY hotly contest item for the next decade or more.Baseball32 said:
Are people really going to sign a petition to increase taxes in Brazos count?
The legal process to do it is something like:
1. Voters sign a petition that gets sent to Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB).
2. THECB will probably recommend to the state legislature that a bill be passed to create a community college. For ease of conversation, lets just start calling it Brazos County College (BCC). It'll be on legislative calendar in 2017.
3. Voters in Brazos County will then have to set what BCC's tax rate will be, usually by a vote at the ballot box. That rate is going to be somewhere between 0.05% and 0.35%. For a $200,000 valuation on a home, that equates to a tax increase of between $100 and $700 per year. It'd probably be on the ballot in November 2018.
4. BCC will then generate tax revenue for a year to hire some staff, buy some land, get a campus master plan together, and prepare a bond package.
5. Sometime in 2020, BCC will try to get voters to approve a bond package. Bond value = current annual tax revenue (about $30M) X bond duration (10 years) minus interest. Let's just guess $300M. Those bonds will go to build the buildings in 2021 and 2022. We taxpayers spend the next 10+ years paying down those bonds.
6. First students start at BCC in 2022 and get their certificates in 2023. Meanwhile it will take a few years for the school to get the kinks worked out so the first marketable BCC grads won't really arrive until at least 2025.
If the dollar figures above are anywhere near correct, you could probably bus students from BCS to Blinn for the next 1000 years for 300 million dollars.
It's amazing what people will propose with other people's money.
What I know so far, I sure would vote against it also.
I stick by my earlier post of being against a new juco taxing entity, especially now that I've taken a closer look at the potential tax implications and the relatively minor differences between Blinn in-district and out of district costs. It would be a big net negative for most brazos county residents.
Make these ideas work with Blinn being the principle institution!
Make these ideas work with Blinn being the principle institution!
Working with Blinn has been their goal for nearly 5 years. Blinn is brushing them off. Their cash cow is the TEAM program feeding A&M. After 5 years the employers and RVP are going around them. End of the day the obvious answer is Blinn expand the technical training. But if they choose not to then TSTC locating a campus here seems the next best choice.
I'm with you on having Blinn or TSTC offering the solution. However, I will work hard against a new taxing entity.