FVCC trustees get first look at 2007 budget

Flathead Valley Community College trustees voted to approve the first reading of the preliminary 2007 budget Monday, reflecting about an 8 percent general fund increase to $10.21 million.

Sheila Gestring, chief financial officer for the college, said the increase follows a similar trend of past years of higher health care and operating costs.

"Utilities are a large part of it," Gestring said Tuesday. "We, like everyone else, are facing a significantly higher increase in natural gas than in the past."

Increases in employee health insurance pushed the benefit costs up.

A chart presented to the trustees Monday showed a 4 percent increase in salaries, a 5.7 percent increase in benefits and a 24 percent increase in operating costs. Waivers and scholarships were reduced by 12 percent.

Gestring drew the trustees' attention to a graph which illustrated that the state's education reimbursement has been flat for a number of years. She said the administration is working with the legislature to improve the reimbursement process.

The graph showed state allocation for each student enrolled in 15 credit hours was $2,791 in 2003. State funding declined to $2,758 for the upcoming school year. Although costs have increased, Gestring said that the college now provides a higher level of service to students through offerings such as the Allied Health program, while at the same time offering the lowest tuition in Montana.

"This year we are $12 less than Dawson," she said with a laugh. "We are the best value."

Students at Flathead Valley Community College will pay $1,272 per semester next fall. Last year tuition at Dawson Community College was slightly less expensive than Flathead Valley.

Trustee Bob Nystuen pointed out that in their first two years at the University of Montana, students pay $2,489 per semester, or about 50 percent more for tuition than at Flathead Valley.

College President Jane Karas added that students in the top 10 percent of their class in high school may attend the community college without paying tuition if they maintain a 2.5 grade point average. She said that the board of regents also has an option to waive tuition for transfer students for their second two years at another of Montana's colleges or universities.

"You could have four years of free tuition by beginning at FVCC," Karas said.

The board intends to discuss the budget in more depth at a retreat scheduled for July 6. Trustees will meet at the retreat house on the Kalispell campus.

During the president's report, Karas expanded on Gestring's remarks regarding changes under consideration for the state's community college funding formula.

She said that the legislature's interim finance committee recently chose to recommend the "fixed and variable" finance method out of three options available to members. This was the option favored by Karas.

Karas said college officials would continue to work with the fiscal analyst, the commissioner of higher education and the governor on the process of identifying fixed and variable costs of community college education.

Karas said that the interim committee would sponsor the bill proposing the new funding formula which would assist the measure in moving forward during the legislative session which starts in January. In other action, trustees voted to allow in-district tuition rates for Running Start for any high school student enrolled in an Office of Public Instruction-accredited high school. This solves an inequity problem for students attending high schools in Flathead County but who live out of the county.

Running Start is a programs in which students may take college courses at a discount and receive both high school and college credit.

Reporter Candace Chase may be reached at 758-4436 or by e-mail at cchase@dailyinterlake.com.