Brownwood News – Ranger College will be hosting a referendum at a Public Hearing to be held Tuesday, June 27th at 7 p.m. at the Ranger College campus located at 300 Early Boulevard – Suite 105, located in the Heartland Mall.

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With anticipation of an annexation election to bring Brown County into the Ranger College District, the Ranger College Board of Trustees will be holding a State required public hearing to discuss issues relating to the annexation election. Funding for the expansion into Ranger College would be made possible by a property tax of $.011 per $100 assessed property valuation.

Recently published articles on alternative news sources have led readers to believe a much higher tax rate could potentially be imposed.

“While Ranger College understands there has been some confusion regarding the proposed tax rate, we would like to reassure citizens that Ranger College is only asking for .11 per $100 of assessed property value,” said Ranger Public Relations Officer Ryan Ronin.

“Ranger values the relationships we have built in Brown County and looks forward to building new ones in the future and wouldn’t want to do anything to jeopardize that. We look forward to meeting with members of the community Tuesday night to help make sure the public is properly informed about this important matter. For those who are unable to attend, we encourage you to email us at info@rangercollege.edu and will gladly answer any questions you may have.”

Ranger has been providing services to area high school students and local business since its arrival. Should Brown County decided to join the college’s district, those services would continue and be provided at a cheaper cost. Brown County would also be eligible to elect members to the Ranger College Governing Board helping determine where resources and programs would be offered.

Tuition would be reduced from $93 per credit hour to $50. Tuition rates for dual enrollment high school students would be reduced from $80 to $25 per credit hour, on top of the Pell Grants already available.

Currently, Ranger College provides hundreds of thousands of dollars in Workforce and Skills Development Grants to local employees and business, helping train workers either wanting to join the labor force or expand training to qualify for higher certification levels. Training programs provided by Ranger College include hazardous materials handling, OSHA, HVAC, nursing and cosmetology programs.

The Service Plan for Brown County can be viewed online here: www.rangercollege.edu/serviceplan.pdf

Additional information about the proposed tax increase as well as the school’s tax rate history can be viewed here: www.rangercollege.edu/servicebrown.pdf