Yuba College budget being reviewed

The Yuba College Budget Task Force is reviewing the current budget and is engaging in long-term planning to avoid a future budget crisis. Task Force members include: Lorraine Ainsworth, John Flaherty, Leticia Gomez, Steve Klein, Larry Michel, Dick Ptacek, Liz Skelly, Kevin Trutna and Lori Wilson. The role of the Task Force is to review a series of assumptions that will impact the development of the 2001 Yuba Community College District’s budget.

In a Budget Task Force Progress Report provided by Assistant Superintendent and Vice-President of Business Services Michael Dencavage, Governor Davis released the 2001-02 Budget Proposal. The $104.7 billion proposal included additional funding for California community colleges, which will be more than $6.2 billion (including state and local sources). $447.4 million is being proposed as an increase to the total community college budget.

Governor Davis’ Budget Proposal includes $111.9 million for a 3 percent growth in enrollment and categorical programs. $62 million is being proposed to assist districts in making part-time faculty salaries more comparable to full-time faculty salaries for similar work. The Governor’s Budget Proposal also includes expansion of part-time office hours of $7.9 million ($3.2 million for 2000-01 and $4.7 million for 2001-02) funding at 1:1 (state to local) matching ratio.

In a December 13 meeting, the Board of Trustees approved the following Budget Principles and Guidelines developed by the Budget Task Force:

Principles:1.The District’s highest priority shall be providing an instructional program that meets the needs of students. The needs of students shall be the first priority in budget development.

2.The role of the entire staff at Yuba Community College is instrumental in reaching the goal of quality education.

3.The District will allocate sufficient funds to maintain and protect the use and value of existing facilities and equipment.

4.District management will maintain adequate cash reserves, implement and maintain effective internal controls. Revenue analysis will be completed prior to making short or long-term commitments.

5.All District programs and operations will be evaluated on a regular scheduled basis.

6.Responsible stewardship of available resources will serve as the foundation for sound fiscal management.

7.Establishing budget priorities and developing the budget will be done in accordance with District Shared Governance Procedures.

8.New programs, expansion of programs, categoricals and grants should be in harmony with College Mission, Goals and Objectives.

Guidelines:1.Full-time equivalent Students are the source of most college revenue. The first priority is to maintain current FTES and to facilitate increasing FTES.

2.New one-time income shall be identified and shall be appropriated only to support non-recurring expenses.

3.All costs shall be considered when evaluating new or continuing programs-salary and benefits, support staff, travel, matching contributions, equipment facilities, etc. The specific source of funding as well as the actual expected costs shall be presented. Funding for support staff for new and/or expanding programs needs to be fully considered before the program is started or expanded.

4.District growth in staffing should be related to the growth in FTES or other income.

5.Every replacement position is to be reviewed and evaluated prior to refill.

6.State, federal and local guidelines as may be required shall be followed in allocating resources.

7.All instructional programs, non-instructional programs, and support services shall be evaluated on a regular basis to determine their efficiencies. Ailing programs are to be identified and then closely examined to see if they should be maintained, restructured, or discontinued.

8.All non-mandated categorical or grant programs shall be self-supporting and where permissible, shall include allowable allocations for direct and indirect costs. Additional FTES and other income generated shall be recognized.

9.The District shall allocate resources on a systematic and fair basis for all units, divisions and locations in support of the College Mission, Goals and Objectives. When budget reductions are necessary, the District shall approach them in the same systematic and fair basis used during the normal budget process.

10.Unit budgets are to be reviewed periodically to determine if resources need to be reallocated.

11.Once budget cuts have been made, a mechanism shall be put in place to reevaluate these budget cuts to determine if they should be restored when monies become available.

12.The District shall maintain a responsible reserve fund.

A sound budget development requires a process by which requests are forwarded for consideration after the college unit ha s undergone a self-study and determined needs, which are established in relationship to known criteria. All requests for budget augmentation must go through the established channels before being forwarded to the Superintendent/Board.

The budget is comprised of three major components: revenues, expenditures and fund balance.

Revenues are a measure of the total money coming into the General Fund. Revenues are calculated based on actual income received in the previous year, adjusted for estimates and known changes to the cost-of-living index, enrollment trends, and categorical program participation levels.

Expenditures are a measure of all General Fund dollars spent. Expenditure estimates are calculated based on the actual activity from the previous year adjusted for staffing changes, employee contracts, rate and premium changes and categorical funding considerations.

The fund balance is a measure of the district reserves adjusted by the overall projected revenues and projected expenditures.

The district’s overall financial goal is to maintain an appropriated level of reserve, maximize district revenues and expend revenues in areas achieving the highest educational value.

Income for 2000-01 is being adjusted by an estimated 350 FTES for a revised growth estimated in the current year, which will, in turn, raise the income base for 2001-02. No growth income is planned beyond the adjusted base in 2000-01. The 2001-02 budget is based on the 2000-01 based of FTES.

The Business Office proposed to allocated 80% of new income to certificated salaries, classified salaries, and benefits. The final allocations of these salaries will be dependent on the collective bargaining process, which is currently in progress.

California’s ongoing energy crisis may have an impact on college funding. The deadline for the state budget is June 30, but may take longer because of the energy crisis. As the state spends money on ways to ease the energy crunch, there’s been an impact on district spending.

The Business Office has also identified the amount necessary to transfer from the General Fund Retirement Benefits Trust Fund, which is an expandable trust established in June 1986 to accumulate funds for the payment of group health premiums of retiring employees. The college district provides lifetime post-retirement health care benefits to eligible employees who retire from the District. Eligibility requirements and benefits vary according to hire date.

The Budget Task Force reviewed 2000-2001 activities that met the conditions of Partnership for Excellence ($1,688,767) and 2000-01 activities subject to supplanting of existing allocations ($560,209).

The Business Office proposed replacement of 60 percent of supplanted PFE funds for 2001-02 ($336,125).

Recently on March 19, 2001 the Business Office issued budget instructions to managers to develop a series of possible budget reductions of 2,4 & 6 percent, which the Budget Task Force believed was disruptive to District operations and staff morale. The task force also commented that many cuts might negatively impact FTES. Across the board cuts are not equitable in light of the amount of discretionary money available to each unit.

As for the hiring freeze, according to Fusako Yokotobi, Personnel/Human Resources Director, the college will “continue with the hiring freeze with each opening reviewed by the President’s Executive Staff who makes the recommendations for exceptions.