VOLUME 102, ISSUE 6
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SEPTEMBER 5, 2012
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City council discusses budget
Enrollment drops in College of Education
By Karen Zamora News Reporter The San Marcos City Council held a public hearing Tuesday night regarding the budget for the 2013 fiscal year. The approximately $160.7 million proposed budget is larger than the budget from fiscal year 2012 because of property tax increases. The city budget for fiscal year 2012 was approximately $146 million. Finance Director Steve Parker said he started assessing the proposed budget in January of this year. He said this particular budget has been the most reviewed one since his term as director. Parker said the city has “trended very well” in terms of its budget, primarily due to the increase in property values and sales taxes. He said there are some instances where the city did spend money from the reserves. Parker said for every dollar the city spends, he wants to have 25 cents in the bank. The 2012-2013 fiscal year budget is made up of separate entities, including the $46.9 million general fund, the $30.5 million water and utility fund and the $55.5 million electric fund. Parker said $100,000 was also added to the budget to make San Marcos “more beautiful than it already is.” Lisa Spencer, Scheib Center board president, spoke during the public hearing and asked the council to help fund the center. The Scheib Mental Health Center, located on Bishop Street, is a mental health facility. Spencer said residents have made generous donations to the center, but it still needs help from the city. Mayor Daniel Guerrero and Councilman Wayne Becak, Place 4, both agreed they would not like the Scheib Center funding to come from money set aside for street construction and maintenance. The council ultimately decided to use $50,000 of the proposed budget from different entities to fund the Scheib Center. Parker said he recommends increasing park maintenance staff to help with keeping city parks clean. The budget also has room for additional police officers and a librarian assistant. During the public hearing, Diann McCabe, honors college senior lecturer and San Marcos Arts Commission member, asked city council to change the current budget’s funding for the arts. The second of two public hearings regarding a proposed tax increase was also held during Tuesday’s meeting. Parker said San Marcos property values increased by 4.8 percent, totaling $130.6 million. He said 60 percent of the increase was from new property and the other 40 percent was from existing properties. The staff presentation showed no increase from last year’s to this year’s tax rate. The first reading of the tax rate ordinance will take place Sept. 14 during the council’s packet meeting. The final reading will be Sept. 18.
Five-year enrollment figures 2008
Fall Enrollment 4,943
2009
5,091
4,905
2010
5,506
5,305
2011
5,901
5,698
2012
5,914
5,457
Year
Source: Institutional Research Factbook
By Emma Long News Reporter Enrollment in the university’s College of Education, which certifies the most teachers in the state, has dropped this year amidst reports of widespread job cuts and low wages. There was an approximately five percent drop in enrollment in Texas State’s College of Education from spring 2011 to spring 2012. In addition to the drop, fall enrollment has also slowed. The college has typically grown by hundreds of students from fall to fall, but enrollment increased by only 13 students from fall 2011 to fall 2012. Officials from the college say there are a few factors that could be causing the enrollment decrease. Dean Stan Carpenter said the college has recently raised its GPA requirement from the state minimum of 2.5 to 2.75, which could have disquali-
Students now have more opportunities to vote early By Taylor Tompkins Assistant News Editor Hays County Commissioners voted to add additional early voting days to the Texas State campus during their meeting Tuesday. Oct. 22 and 23 will now be early voting days in addition to Oct. 24 and 25, which were already designated as such. Polling will be from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. in the LBJ Student Center. Joyce Cowan, Hays County Elections Administrator, said she spoke with Joanne Smith, vice president for student affairs, about the addition of more early voting days at Texas State’s polling locations. Cowan said Smith and the university were willing to work with the county on whatever decision they made. Will Conley, commissioner for Precinct 3, spoke about a prior proposal. The proposal suggested adding only one additional day to campus early voting, but allowing for three more extra hours of voting time. The hours that were made available for early voting on campus were determined by student activity, Cowan said. Class times and organization meetings were taken into account when deciding the availability of the polls for students. “We looked at the activity and tried to accommodate the majority of the voters,” Cowan said. “I know there are students who get up and are ready to go at 7 a.m., but we haven’t seen much activity in the past in early mornings.”
Spring Enrollment 4,740
Hays County early voters account for a large percentage of voters in the San Marcos, Kyle, Buda and Dripping Springs areas, Cowan said. “We will accommodate any voters who come into our locations,” Cowan said. “I think the biggest portion of our voters is going to vote early. I think the opportunity is there for people that may not have voted in the past to definitely vote this time.” Conley said there are more opportunities for early voting in San Marcos now than there were during the 2008 elections. On-campus polling was more present in 2008 than ever before, he said. “What’s most important to me is that we have (polling) time available to be as equivalent as possible to (early voting in) 2008 on campus,” Conley said. Cowan told county commissioners every day of additional voting will cost the county $500 in order to pay poll workers. County Judge Bert Cobb stressed the need for a final decision, saying the polling locations and the additional days needed to be approved by the state and federal government. “When you start changing things at this late a date, there could be a problem,” Cobb said. Cobb and Precinct 3 Commissioner Mark Jones voted against the motion. General election polling sites will be open Nov. 6 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Students can also vote by mail-in ballot after submitting the mail-in application found on the county’s website.
fied some students from being admitted. Carpenter said the media attention given to education budget cuts in the recent legislative session may have also discouraged students from seeking an education degree. Carpenter said this was seen in April 2011 when the Austin Independent School District laid off approximately 800 teachers. He said the district hired back about 650 of those teachers this August, but students were only hearing reports of the job cuts, not those of teachers being rehired. Patrice Werner, chair of the department of curriculum and instruction, said this is the first year a drop in enrollment in the college has been noticeable. Werner said students want to major in a field where they know a job will be found upon graduation, so the recent media attention given to education job cuts may have discouraged
students. However, the drop in enrollment is not entirely a bad thing, Werner said. “We feel like we had grown a little bit too much, so now (enrollment) is leveling off to a point that is more sustainable for us,” Werner said. “So it is not necessarily a terrible thing for us.” Carpenter said about 40 percent of educators are more than 55 years old. Those teachers would typically retire in the next 10 years, but they are tending to hold on to their jobs longer, taking away more positions for aspiring educators, he said. Carpenter said he understands why some students may not want to major or seek a career in education. “Our students are rational creatures,” Carpenter said. “There are going to be fewer jobs and they pay less. That’s not a great combination, so I really think there was some dam-
READ EDUCATION, PAGE 2
Water pipeline project construction continues
Erin Dyer, Staff Photographer
Construction on North LBJ street is expected to cause further congestion due to projects on Comanche and Sessom streets. By Colin Ashby Special to the Star San Marcos residents could continue to see the effects of construction on the Comanche 24-inch water transmission project until April 2013. The project is part of the City of San Marcos’ 2004 Water Master Plan in an attempt to better distribute water around the city. The project, headed by Santa Clara Construction Ltd. of Austin, received about $2.6 million in funding from the City of San Marcos through
water taxes. Approximately 6,561 feet of 24-inch main pipeline will be laid during construction. The motivation behind the project was to reduce pressure on the current 12-inch water pumps used by the city. Shaun Condor, head project engineer, said the existing pumps are too overworked. Linda Huff, director of engineering for the city, said the project could benefit citizens and the city. It will save
READ CONSTRUCTION, PAGE 2