FVCC board approves $20 million budget

Following a $1.3 million cut in state funding in April, Flathead Valley Community College will work to stretch a nearly $20 million budget for the 2018 fiscal year.

The FVCC Board of Trustees voted and approved the budget during Monday’s meeting, with one addition made from the last reading to reflect changes in the student housing budget.

In order to cover some of the lost state funding, the college will increase student tuition and fees by $16.40 per credit beginning this fall.

The increases were recommended by the FVCC Budget Committee, a committee made up of faculty, staff and students, during its April meeting. The committee meets on a regular basis to evaluate the cost of tuition compared to the school’s annual expenditures.

An April press statement said the increase in tuition and fees will cover less than 50 percent of the $1.3 million loss.

In addition to the increases, FVCC President Jane Karas said that the college will be making cutbacks to expenditures. Karas did not clarify which areas those cutbacks would be made in, but the 2018 budget shows a total increase of over $360,000 compared to the 2017 budget.

That increase includes a $300,000 increase in salaries and benefits, a $45,000 increase in scholarships/waivers, and a nearly $10,000 increase in operating expenses.

Salaries and benefits account for $15.8 million of the total budget, while $3.1 million goes to operating expenses.

The addition of student housing will cost about $700,000.

The community college funding formula is based on each school’s number of full-time students, the cost of education per student and a baseline budget from a previous year. Total tuition for 2018 was budgeted at $5.5 million, state funding came through with $9.1 million and local funding totaled about $5 million.

The state’s community colleges had more than 2,000 full-time-equivalent students last year. While the schools combined have seen more than a 10 percent decrease in enrollment over the last decade, FVCC has seen a jump by nearly 8 percent since 2006, according to the Montana University System.

Reporter Mary Cloud Taylor can be reached at 758-4459 or mtaylor@dailyinterlake.com.