CCCC facing uncertainties in preparing budget

The Cloud County Community College administration and board of trustees face some uncertainties as they begin the process of preparing a fiscal year 2021 budget proposal.
What level of funding will be provided by the state of Kansas and what impact the COVID-19 pandemic will have on enrollment numbers for the 2020-2021 academic year are among the unknowns as work on the budget began during a study session via Zoom video conferencing on Wednesday.
Interim college president Amber Knoettgen informed the board that community colleges should expect cuts in funding because of the economic impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on state revenues.
“Of course the governor is committed to fully funding us. The reality is the money may not be there. And so that is a reality we are going to have to face, and consider as we move forward with a budget,” Knoettgen said.
Community colleges could face a cut of up to 10 percent in state funding.
Cloud County receives 30 percent of its total revenue from state funding, as compared to an average of 16 percent for all community colleges in Kansas.
State funding for Cloud County in fiscal year 2020 totaled $4,434,405. A 10-percent cut would result in a loss of $443,440.50.
The college has endured a cumulative loss of $502,721 in state funding over the past five years because of state appropriation budget cuts.
Cloud County is also budgeting for a potential loss in credit hours from the 2019-2020 academic year.
Total credit hours for 2019-2020 were 36,334. That was a 1.5-percent decline from the previous year.
“The reality is that we could expect a decline in enrollment, just based on the effects of COVID,” Knoettgen.
Cloud County could also see a decline in auxiliary revenues, which include on-campus housing.
The college is working on a plan for on-campus housing for the 2020 fall semester that would reduce the number of students living on campus from 330 to 271, because of COVID-19 safety concerns. That would amount to a decrease of $256,337 in revenue.
Knoettgen said much of the funding loss could be offset by a reduction in expenses.
The college can use funds from Senate Bill 155 to help cover some of the state funding losses. The state will provide tuition reimbursement for high school students to enroll in college-level career technical education courses.
Knoettgen presented two budget scenarios to the board. The first is based on a two-percent decrease in enrollment, a 10-percent cut in state funds and the housing occupancy decrease.
If the county valuation and mill levy for the college remain the same, that would be a decline in revenue of $782,267.50.
The second scenario presented by Knoettgen is based on a five-percent decrease in credit hours, a five-percent reduction in state funding and the housing occupancy decrease. That would result in a decline in revenue of $683,943,25.
Knoettgen is recommending the second option with a five-percent decline in credit hours to 34,623 and a five-percent decrease in state funding ($221,720.25).
The college would use Senate Bill 155 funds to help cover the loss from the state.
Knoettgen said that she does not want to make any decisions on faculty and staff without knowing what state funding and enrollment are going to look like.
“I have made the cuts I can to the budget. I don’t want to make a decision on people without knowing where we are at for sure because these are the livelihoods, and our people are our best asset at this point and they always have been. I just feel strongly about that,” Knoettgen said.
Budgets must be submitted to the County Clerk by August 25.
In action taken by the board during the meeting, bids of $69,500 from Dissinger Reed for basic student athletic insurance coverage for the 2020-2021 fiscal year and $5,866 from Zurich American Insurance Company for catastrophic coverage were approved.
The board also approved the purchase of Unitrends Offsite (Cloud) backup and disaster recovery services from CDW-G in the amount of $14,664.49.