Apr 22, 2021

Last year, the College of the Mainland (COM) Board of Trustees made the decision to refinance the college’s maintenance note. After hearing voters’ voices last fall, the college has made the necessary adjustments to make the proposal a win-win for all. With that in mind, COM will be placing the refinancing of the college’s maintenance tax notes on the upcoming May 1 voting ballot.

To continue effectively serving the growing needs of students and the surrounding community, this election gives the college an opportunity to take advantage of historically low interest rates and refinance its 2017 maintenance tax note – effectively reducing taxes and saving taxpayers more than $4.3 million over the life of the loan. The refinancing could decrease COM’s interest rate from 4 to as low as 1 percent.

If the proposition is approved, there would be an overall decrease to the property tax rate. Based on projected numbers, if the refinancing measure is approved, the new tax rate would be an estimated $0.287747 (per $100 valuation) versus $0.290364 (per $100 valuation) if the measure does not pass. The COM Board of Trustees have pledged that the savings that are achieved through refinancing will be passed on to taxpayers through the rate reduction.

Registered voters that live within the Dickinson, Hitchcock, Santa Fe and Texas City (including La Marque) school districts are eligible to vote on the proposal because they are within the COM taxing district.

Early voting for the upcoming election will take place through April 27. Election day is May 1, 2021. For more information, visit vote.com.edu.

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