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Budget uncertainties still loom after committee approval
MHCC Budget Committee approved the 2009-10 budget ‘without knowing for sure what variances there will be’ in terms of state support
The Advocate
With Oregon’s budget facing massive deficit problems and community college funding continuing to plummet, Joann Zahn, director of fiscal operations, budget and auxiliary services, has created MHCC’s 2009-2010 budget on an expected state fund of $440 million, although that number could drop to as low as $375 million, according to MHCC President John Sygielski.
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“There is a free fall that could happen for community colleges,” Sygielski said during Wednesday’s budget meeting. “Oregon could be looking at close to a $5 billion shortfall for its entire state budget. We (the college) have been developing a new three-year plan for community outreach, looking under every rock to determine how to serve communities and students during these tough times.”
After the budget meeting, Sygielski said that he was expecting the community college funding to drop from the current $440 million that is expected, despite State Senator and Board member Rod Monroe’s efforts to prevent losses, to somewhere in the $415 to $420 million range.
“There are colleges right now that are preparing their budgets based on a really worst-case scenario of $375 million,” said Sygielski. “I think more realistically, we’re looking at a loss of another $20 to $25 million from the state budget.”
During the meeting, Monroe, who was present via conference call, told Zahn that the $440 million budget was a “sound assumption.”
“It’s a sound and reasonable assumption,” said Monroe. “There has been an unprecedented spike in enrollment state-wide. Winter enrollment is dramatically exceeding fall term, as I’ve seen increases of between 5 to 30 percent. Oregonians are looking to community colleges to gain more skills; it would be tragic to have to turn these people away. Education must lead the way out of this recession and I’m optimistic that it will.”
Zahn said that the budget was built without the collective bargaining figures that are $1 million to $2 million, prompting Board Chair Duke Shepard to ask why.
“There are too many questions involved to really include those numbers,” said Zahn. “We don’t know how big or small the number will be yet. It depends on what happens with faculty.”
“It’s difficult to build a budget without knowing for sure what variances there will be,” said Zahn after the meeting. “The budget will change for sure if there is new information as far as state support – good or bad – or if there’s news with collective bargaining. The budget right now is not accounting for layoffs. It’s a framework and has significant opportunity for expenditure changes. We as a college have choices to make, and must work collaboratively.”
Before voting for adoption of the budget, Shepard said that if he weren’t the chair, he would vote no.
“I disagree with not including the contractual numbers into the budget, so I would not vote for a budget that has the opportunity to significantly change,” said Shepard.
The budget was approved 5-0, with Brian Freeman and Bob Morris absent from the meeting.
Board member Dave Shields, after voting yes, said, “I don’t remember a time when there were so many undecideds. We are obligated to make this budget at this time, but the organization requiring us to do so (the state) is not giving us the information we need to make these decisions. This is an educated guess.”
Sygielski said after the meeting that the budget proposal was “closer to concrete than a hypothetical.”
“Rod (Monroe) is going to try to get us as much funding as possible, I know that,” said Sygielski. “But I still don’t know if that’s going to be enough. My gut tells me we’ll be under $440 million. Intuitively, I’d expect $415 to $420 million is a safer estimate.”
“We’ll have a better idea of our funding after a few things happen: the state tells us how much we’re getting, we have new ideas and ways to generate revenue and cut costs, and the constituency groups know what they’re going to be doing,” said Sygielski. “All of our groups agree that we want to do everything to not harm our students.”
Sygielski said that any layoffs or giving back of salary or workdays was up to the constituency groups.
“What we can do to collectively keep the institution as whole as possible would be key.”
Sygielski and Zahn both agreed that the budget proposal was the best that could be done with the limited resources available to them. The budget will need to be finalized and balanced, by state law, at the June 10 board meeting.