| TO: |
Lane Faculty and Staff |
|
| FROM: |
Mary Spilde |
|
| RE: |
Budget Development |
|
| DATE: |
May 4, 2004 |
|
One of the pieces of very good news this year is the fact that we
are not reducing budgets or increasing tuition significantly for 2004-05.
Worries about the state revenue shortfalls and the impact on our budget
consumed so much of our time and energy over the last two years. I
am pleased that this year we have been able to focus more on what
is really important - teaching and learning and serving our students
and community.
Although it is not such a big issue this year, we are now in the
process of developing a budget for next year. We have updated our
projections since they were first approved by the board in November.
I am happy to say that we will be okay this year and next. We still
see a slight deficit looming in 2006 and an even larger deficit in
2007. We are on the road to financial stability, but we are not there
yet.
For that reason we are not proposing significant recurring changes
to the budget for next year. Any recurring additions would only add
to the deficit in future years. We are proposing additions to major
maintenance and capital outlay per board direction. The only other
recurring addition we are proposing is a payroll analyst. Moving to
a twice monthly payroll has significantly increased the workload in
Human Resources, and we need to assure that staff are paid accurately
and in a timely way. Other changes have been made only if existing
funds could be reallocated.
We have also developed a list of proposals for one time “investments.”
These would be funded by using one time carryover funds, if available.
These recommendations have come from prior board direction or college
planning processes. The budget committee will review these proposals
and, hopefully, prioritize and make a recommendation to the board
to include them in the budget. The list of proposals will be posted
to the budget development website by Thursday of this week. I have
attached a draft to this e-mail.
Tuition will be increased $1.50 per credit. This is an inflationary
adjustment per board policy.
As we begin implementation of the new governance system, the College
Council and Finance Council will have key roles in the budget development.
Obviously, we were not able to gear up the new governance system fast
enough for that to happen this year.
I will keep you updated as the budget committee progresses with its
work.
