CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Del Mar College officials learned late Wednesday that a dispute between two refineries and the Nueces County Appraisal District remains unresolved.
The appraisal district and Valero Energy had a scheduled mediation, but did not resolve the dispute regarding it's $2.5 billion tax valuation.
"We had hoped that the parties involved could come to some agreement on this, so that we could avoid this negative impact on the college, but it appears that is not the case today," Carol Scott, Del Mar College board president said.
In June, 6 Investigates first reported on a 500 percent increase in property tax valuations for Valero Energy and Flint Hills Resources — the companies appraised at $6.5 billion and $6.3 billion, respectively.
Last month, before certified values were released, each refinery saw a drop in appraised value of $4 billion.
Despite this drop in appraisals, taxing entities such as Nueces County, Del Mar College and the Nueces County Hospital District expect to see budget deficits in the upcoming fiscal year.
That expected deficit stems from laws governing how the tax rate is calculated.
Every year, appraisal districts across the state provide an assessed value of each property, which helps determine the tax owed.
Once the appraisal district certifies appraised values, they use those total values to determine tax rates.
However, the total value of appraised properties that will be used to set the tax rate this year is artificially high.
In 2022, both refineries were valued at $1.4 billion and $1.5 billion.
"This will present a serious fiscal challenge for the college. I want you to know that we are prepared to deal with it moving forward with a budget and tax rate adoption process," Mark Escamilla, president of Del Mar College said.
Exactly how serious a challenge this presents is not yet publicly known. Del Mar College will provide numbers during a budget workshop Tuesday.
"It will require some collective belt-tightening but we will continue to maintain our high level of services and operations, and keep moving forward and take care of our employees and students," Escamilla said. "Again, our focus will remain on the mission, our students, and the people and community we serve."
Scott said the college will continue to explore all legal options available to it.
