Fort Scott Community College trustees OK budget by 4-2 vote

It wasn't unanimous, but the Fort Scott Community College Board of Trustees on Monday approved a 2011-12 budget that includes a mill levy increase of 2.4 mills.

The board ended several months of review and consideration of the new budget by approving it after a 4-2 vote during a budget hearing at the college. Bernita Hill and Mark McCoy were the only trustees present who voted against approving the proposed budget.

The college's budget has three main funds -- the general fund which is budgeted at about $8 million, the vocational fund, which is about $2.7 million, the adult basic education fund, which is $18,363, and the truck driving fund, which is budgeted at $738,395. The total operating budget is about $11.4 million.

The college published a budget earlier this month that reflected a mill levy increase of 3.8 mills, but through discussion and changes that increase was reduced to 2.4 mills. With the approval, the college mill levy will increase from its current 22.9 to 25.3 mills.

The increase is expected to generate about $2.3 million in local tax dollars for the 2011-12 year, down from the $2.4 million figure published earlier this month and slightly more than the $2.2 million in taxes levied last year.

FSCC President Clayton Tatro said the increase will help the college address projected increased expenses and lower revenues and balance its budget for next year. The budget was built around a small decrease in state funding and enrollment figures and local property valuation numbers that have remained flat. Tatro said the college's state funding has been cut 23 percent the last four years.

Tatro said the college budgeted more than $400,000 in additional expenses this year and almost $900,000 has been cut out of the existing budget. He said college officials and trustees began the budget process with a nearly $600,000 hole and has been able to narrow that down to roughly $218,000 through cutting various expenses and other measures.

"We fixed that through personnel cuts, budget cuts, and reappropriating some student fee money," he said.

During the hearing, local resident John Kerr addressed the board, saying he is concerned about mill levy increases across the county and their affect on citizens during a bad economy.

"It's an awful lot to ask for a mill levy increase," he said. "Why do you need my money more than my family needs my money?"

Kerr said many families are also operating on tight budgets lately and dealing with less revenue. He also said there are people "who can't afford their houses" and their houses "are not worth as much."

"How will a mill levy increase help them out?" Kerr asked the board.

Tatro said because local valuations have been affected, the college will not be collecting any more tax dollars than it did four years ago. He also cited the college's economic impact on the community and said it is the fifth largest employer in Bourbon County.

"We know we're a solid value to the students, to the taxpayer," he said.

Hill agreed with Kerr and said she was against the mill levy increase because she still feels the budget could have been looked at even closer and more cuts could have been made.

"I truly believe we haven't cut enough, that we could go through and cut more," she said.

Tatro said he didn't "feel good about the increase, but we've scoured the budget. We're at the point where we cut direct services to students. I feel this is our best budget."

Trustee Myrtle Anne Colum said she is in favor of the mill levy increase "because of education." She said that while she doesn't "like to pay taxes either," she feels college officials have been "good stewards" of taxpayer dollars. Projected additional expenses the college is facing this year are a $168,000 increase in the health insurance benefit premium, a $57,000 increase in the athletic insurance premium and anticipated retirement stipends which increased the budget $13,000.

The counseling and construction trades budgets have been absorbed into the general and vocational budgets and the armory expansion added $20,000 to the vocational budget, according to FSCC documents.