By Joshua Knopp/managing editor
The TCC board of trustees unanimously voted to show representatives in the national government their support for the Pell Grant program.
Pell Grants, need-based scholarships designed to help low-income students access higher education, are just one of the sacrifices the federal government has on the table in its attempt to balance the budget. For this academic year, 19,547 TCC students have received Pell Grants.
Budget proposals from the Obama administration and House Republicans both cut Pell Grant funding. Obama’s proposal would maintain the Pell Grant’s maximum amount of $5,500 but would remove the option to get a second Pell Grant for a summer semester. The Republican proposal would simply cut the maximum grant by $845.
The board felt it should apply as much pressure as possible to support TCC’s low-income students.
“A lot of voices are going to be heard by the legislators,” said Joe Hudson, board president. “I think ours ought to be one of them.”
Also passing unanimously was the motion to approve the trade of 33 acres of TR Campus to the Tarrant Regional Water District for 10 acres in the same area. The water district will use this land as part of the Trinity River Vision Project, a project to enhance the waterway’s cleanliness and beauty.
Tarrant Regional Water District will also gain the exclusive right to purchase 18 acres along the river’s West Fork, encompassing the abandoned TXU power plant. The land is currently owned by TXU, but TCC has the rights to purchase it. The water district wants these rights to prevent someone else from buying the property and not having the funding to clean it up. TXU currently maintains the property.
TCC will receive $3 million in the deal to equalize the value of the properties. Currently, TCC has no plans for either the land or the money.
The Board then entertained a proposal from Fort Worth’s Housing and Economic Development Department to participate in the East Berry Renaissance and Woodhaven Tax Increment Financing (TIF) development projects.
TIF districts are properties that are developed with taxes that are yet to be paid into profitable developments. Contributors are then paid back by the higher taxes on the developed property. TCC is currently invested in 23 TIFs at various stages.
The board of trustees will vote on this proposal during its next meeting March 10.
