The Torch

Issue date: 6/4/09 Section: Budget

Even though LCC's operations budget has been reduced, deferred maintenance projects, such as the renovations to Building 5 that are currently underway on LCC's Main campus, will continue since they are funded by the "Go Oregon!" economic stimulus package. Photo by LANA BOLES/The Torch

Oregon community colleges will take another hit next fiscal year, according to the Ways and Means Committee co-chairs budget report on May 18. The Community College Support Fund, from which LCC gets a majority of its funding, is being reduced from $500 million in the current biennium to $423 million in 2010.

"Given our burgeoning enrollment, this is a very disappointing number," LCC President Mary Spilde said in an e-mail to LCC employees. "It is very worrisome in that legislators believe that the revenue forecast will decline even further as we move into the next biennium."

Associate Vice President of Finance Greg Morgan said there was "a huge potential for the overall state budget to drop." The latest budget forecast, released May 15, presumes that Oregon will be able to garner $800 million in new revenue and that the state of the economy will not worsen, which Morgan said isn't very likely. "Everyone's saying the economy will get worse before it gets better," Morgan said.

If the overall state budget declines, LCC will have to scramble again, and stretch already thin resources even more. With the latest forecast, LCC is facing a $6 million deficit in state funding from the last two years.

Since the amount of state funding LCC will receive is not yet finalized, the college has been working with three proposals in an attempt to balance the budget by June 2. Estimating the CCSF would be cut to $440, $428 or $412 million, college administration has formulated budget proposals for these three scenarios. "We will be prepared to propose a balanced budget in the next couple of weeks," Spilde said.

Morgan said this budget proposal gives "a lot of departments a lot less to work with." All groups at LCC must sacrifice, he said, and students will be hurt like everyone else. Currently, the college is using a "placeholder" $3 tuition surcharge and a $2 instructional fee increase per student per term in the budget. While this number is much lower than other tuition surcharge proposals from other factions, such as LCC Education Association or the LCC Education Federation, Morgan said it's still significant to students. However, the lower surcharge and fee do presume "employees will take a hit," he said.

"The college is here for students, so it's not fair for one group of stakeholders to take all of the pain. Students shouldn't have to absorb all of it," Morgan said.

Since LCCEF is still in bargaining with the college concerning its contract, the size of the hit employees have to take is yet to be determined.

According to the tentative LCCEA one-year contract, faculty will see no layoffs this year, and Morgan stated that the college is aiming to avoid layoffs for either faculty or employees. Spilde confirmed in her e-mail to employees "we are still aiming to avoid layoffs or reduce programs and services."

Since the college has decided for financial reasons to leave many positions vacant, Morgan said layoffs would be especially detrimental to students and the diversity of programs and services LCC could offer.

The college has had to cut back on maintenance already, yet the disappointing budget forecasts necessitated even more cuts.

LCC will reduce major maintenance projects, besides those paid for through the "Go Oregon" economic stimulus package and Bond Measure 20-142, and will not buy any new equipment. "For those kinds of things we're at bare bones," Morgan said.

For the last biennium, intergovernmental funding, like property taxes and the CCSF, totaled 54 percent of LCC's funding. Tuition accounted for 36 percent. Fees made up 4 percent, while the rest was covered by grants, or private donations. This biennium, for the first time ever, that paradigm will have shifted.

"This year, things are really quite different," Morgan said. "For the first time ever, state support is less than tuition. State support is going down, and tuition is going up."

Unfortunately, the rise in enrollment and even the potential tuition surcharge may not be able to offset LCC's losses in the legislature.

"There's sacrifice across the board," Morgan said. "It's really reducing the support for lots of levels of the college. And there's a huge potential it's only going to get worse."

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