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As noted elsewhere, the district continues to cry "wolf" when it comes to discussion of salary and benefits actions. The following analysis (similar to those conducted in the past when it was impossible to get straight answers from the board) is intended to provide some visibility into the true budget position of the district and to validate the UF position that there are adequate funds available to fairly compensate faculty for the job they do.The first step to begin any analysis is to gather such facts or readily available information that exists. And, not to confuse, but we need to keep straight which budget we're talking about. There's the 2006-2007 budget, and there's the 2007-2008 budget. While the school year is almost over, UF and the district are still negotiating 2006-2007 benefits/salaries and other articles of the contract, with no credible offer from the district. (See Negotiations Update.) The Governor's 2007-2008 budget was released in January, and we're waiting on the May Revise to determine if the projections were accurate. So, ... 2007-2008Let's start with the governor’s budget and initial analysis from the Legislative Analyst’s Office. Here is the Governor’s proposed 2007-2008 budget for Community Colleges. Here is an analysis of that Budget using slightly different figures. Many of the reductions (Prop 98), enrollment projections, etc. are based on May reporting figures yet (as of 5/7/07) to come in. Monies are still being held in an Enrollment Restoration fund (over $160M) to be used if a District succeeds in recapturing lost enrollment from the year before. As a result, LAO makes a number of recommendations to reduce Prop 98 funding for districts (going below the mandated 10.9% yet again). They project that Local Property Taxes will be up, bond payments will be up (occasioned by issuing 1D bonds), student fees will be down (fee reduction), resulting in a projected budget of $8,616.1 million dollars (according to the LAO) or $7,914.1 million dollars (according to the Governor’s proposed budget). This represents a 3.9% growth over 2006-2007 (again according to the LAO).2006-2007Here in line 020 is the Chancellor’s Office analysis of the 2006-2007 GCCCD budget versus actuals for the period 2002-03 to 2006-07. Interesting to note is that there was projected to be a 11.5% increase in Academic Salaries from 5/06 to 6/07. Some observations and questions about our budget, keeping in mind that we want to look for "tall poles" or significant percentage changes to budget items. Revenues Expenditures Ending Balance For the year, revenues were projected to decrease by $2,429,340 and expenditures to increase by $4,974,324. Obvious questions (and we will explore these in the future) are "What caused the significant decrease in revenue and the increase in expenditures?" The Faculty and voters of East County deserve to know! |
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