Board approves 2% raise: District plans for future cuts as state funding decreases
by Connie Yu, Managing Editor

   With a picture of money dripping out of a faucet, TCC Chancellor Leonardo de la Garza presented the board members Thursday a budget $1.7 million short and a forecast of a potential budget crisis in the future.
   The college lost $34 million from the state-funding shortfall in the biennium that began Sept. 1 while enrollment and operational costs continue to increase. To make up the difference, de la Garza said 211 employment vacancies, 38 of them faculty positions, will remain frozen. Class sizes in many courses have increased, and faculty members were asked to take one extra class for the fall.
   "This fall and next spring, it will be harder to get some of the most popular classes," he said.
   "In past years, we opened new sections almost without limit. This year, for the most part, when we were full, we were full."
   The board approved the budget of almost $182 million for this year with minor changes in tuition rate. As the last year of the college's three-year plan, tuition has increased $1 per one semester hour while property tax has remained the same. But TCC officials say both are likely to increase next spring because of state funding cuts and steady enrollment growth.
   "While we will not go beyond the tuition increase for this year that was already planned, we will be taking a very serious look at tuition and fee levels for 2004-05 and beyond," Dr. Bill Lace, executive assistant to the chancellor, said. "I think we will also examine all our programs-instructional and otherwise-in light of our budgetary situation to evaluate if we really need to be teaching and doing all we're presently doing."
   One-third of this year's budget will go to the building fund for renovations on all four campuses, SE expansion and the fund for a new campus. Salaries will rise 2 percent to $37 million, 1 percent less than last year's increase. The college will also spend an additional $4 million on new cost demands, including $2 million for staff insurance no longer covered by the state.
   But the most difficult factor in future budget planning may be the enrollment growth, officials say.
   "We have an enrollment crunch," de la Garza said. "In my 32 years in education, I've never imagined using the phrase enrollment management. But that's what we are facing today."
   Funding shortfalls from the state and tuition deregulation passed by the legislature this year have caused a tuition hike at many Texas public universities, de la Garza said. As a result, many students turn to community colleges as a cheaper alternative.
   "We are just beginning to feel the first effects of tuition deregulation at universities," Lace said. "I think, especially starting in the fall of 2004, we will have large numbers of students coming to us who would have gone to UTA or UNT [if not] for the higher tuition."
   Community colleges also have begun to respond to state funding cutbacks, de la Garza said.
   "Many community colleges are also planning to increase rates, some as much as $16 per semester hour," he said.
   He told board members that demands for expenditures will likely exceed revenues, and if state funding continues to shrink, the college's educational quality could be affected.
   "It may be difficult to maintain the high quality and service standards for those we serve," he said.