Written by Amanda Coers – The topic of taxes is weighing heavy on Brownwood and Brown County residents as both the City of Brownwood and the Brown County Commissioners are proposing increases. A third additional annual bill could come due if a proposed Ranger College tax annexation is voted into effect in November.

 

The Brownwood City Council held a public hearing on the proposed budget at 9 a.m. at City Hall on August 22nd, during which a detailed summary of the budget was presented by Walter Middleton, Director of the city’s finance department. “We are proposing an increase in the property tax rate from .7463 per $100 valuation to .7946. That would be an increase of 6.5% in the rate,” Middleton said. This will roll back to the tax rate established in 1999.

On Monday, August 28th, County Judge Ray West and the Brown County Commissioners discussed a proposed county tax rate of 62.37 cents per $100 valuation, with the preceding rate being 60.93 cents per $100 valuation. “The effective rate is the tax rate needed to raise the same amount of tax revenue for the upcoming tax year as was raised last year, based on new values,” said Judge West. The second public hearing for the proposed county tax rate will be held on August 31st at 9 a.m. at the Brown County Courthouse.

To put the increases in perspective, for a $95,000 home in Brownwood the annual taxes for the city would be $754.87, and the annual taxes for the county would be $592.52, bringing the total for those two tax bills to $1,347.39. It should be noted that disabled community members and homeowners over the age of 65 would be exempt from those increases on homestead properties.

However, should the Ranger College annexation be approved by a vote, those exemptions would not apply, and that same $95,000 home would have an additional $104.50 to pay in taxes.

As Brownwood and Brown County residents are becoming more and more concerned with an increased tax bill each year, a strong push-back from the community has began to culminate with a Facebook Group titled “Citizens Against Ranger Tax Annexation.” The group’s membership has swelled recently, with over 7,000 members.

“When I established this group, my goal was to reach as many people as possible in the three counties, give them factual information, encourage citizens to vote, and collaborate ideas to defeat the annexation election,” said Kimberly McKinney, who created the group on July 31st.

Early voting regarding the annexation will be held at the new Brown County Elections Office at 613 N. Fisk on October 23-27th from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and October 30-31st from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Voting Day will be November 7th, with polls open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

While the group’s main purpose is to present information regarding the annexation proposal from Ranger College and to make the community aware of upcoming voting dates, there have been several posts from members regarding Ranger President Bill Campion. With the college president spearheading the annexation promotion, many concerned citizens have been searching for more information on Campion and have been sharing the results of their searches in the group and on their own social media accounts.

Those posts have contained links to news articles detailing what some consider a rocky career history at several community college campuses where Campion has been previously employed:

  • 1995: While working as Central Florida Community College President, William (Bill) Campion submitted his resignation in December, under a “cloud of controversy” surrounding a number of ethics and whistle-blower complaints tied to his affiliation with a telecommunications company called Excel. http://www.ocala.com/news/20030101/recent-history

 

  • 2003: As the president of Eastern Oklahoma State College, Campion hired a consultant, Don Bostic, who was investigated by the FBI. President Bill Campion confirmed that Bostic was being paid $200 a day as a consultant, spending two or three weeks a month at the campus. Though information regarding the nature of the investigation was not available, Bostic was placed on administrative leave with pay from El Paso Community College, where he earned $90,380 annually. Previously, Bostic had worked for Campion when he was president of El Paso Community College for 18 months, starting in 1998. The two also had worked together at a Florida community college in the early 1990s. http://newsok.com/article/1955335 

 

  • 2004: Bill Campion resigned as President of Eastern Oklahoma State College during an executive session of the college’s regents. He had reportedly faced controversy during his term, including a vote of no confidence by more than 70 percent of the college’s faculty. During Campion’s time at Eastern Oklahoma State College, the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education had considered a report from their staff that Eastern had violated state policy by providing academic credit for courses taught by a group in Florida. The report focused on an agreement between the college and an operation called “Move on Toward Education and Training,” which offered night classes at a middle and high school in Florida. Campion had signed an agreement with the Florida organization to authorize the issuance of transcripts for the courses through the Oklahoma college. It was labeled as a college credit-for-pay deal with the Florida company. According to news reports at the time, under the arrangement teachers in Florida received fake certifications through Eastern State. The scandal forced the college to reimburse $114,000 in tuition to “students” who never attended classes. “It was a very destructive time. He was a destructive man,” said Estella Bennett-Mask, who helped uncover the fake certification arrangement. http://www.tulsaworld.com/archives/eastern-president-steps-down/article_b5803003-0512-5485-b24d-604bfd950394.html?fref=gc An additional article references the incidents, published October 30, 2006: http://newsok.com/article/2963892

 

 

  • 2017: A news story published by KTXS details two people have filed federal complaints against Ranger College alleging discrimination and retaliation while they were employed at the school. Dr. Elizabeth Price, a tenured professor and the director of testing at Ranger College, accuses the school of sexual discrimination and harassment and retaliation, according to court documents filed in April. Former assistant athletic director Jaime Beltran is accusing the school of race and national origin discrimination and retaliation, according to court documents filed in May. Both Beltran and Price also claim they experienced retaliation when President Bill Campion learned of their complaints from human resources. http://www.ktxs.com/news/2-federal-complaints-filed-against-ranger-college-for-discrimination/593507777?fref=gc