Countywide : Colleges Weigh Cuts of $600,000 in Budget

The Ventura County Community College District Board of Trustees meets with administrators today to discuss making nearly $600,000 in budget cuts.

The meeting follows the trustees’ approval Tuesday of a tentative budget of more than $61 million for Moorpark, Oxnard and Ventura colleges.

That budget, however, was short about $460,000 that district officials had projected they would receive from the state, said Tom Kimberling, vice chancellor of administrative services.

The balance of the shortfall comes because the trustees plan to put $137,000 in an emergency reserve fund, which now has about $1.2 million.

The district does not plan to lay off workers but will probably consider making cuts in areas such as travel, supplies and materials, Kimberling said.

In January, Gov. George Deukmejian’s office had projected a 5.2% cost-of-living increase for community college districts, but last week that amount was reduced to 4.6%. Final funding allocations from the state will not be known until the state budget is adopted July 1.

The district had also counted on receiving about $180 annually in lottery funds for each of its 16,500 students, but the state recently projected that the lottery would provide only $160 per full-time student, Kimberling said.

In other budget items, a proposal by Trustee Timothy Hirschberg to cut board travel expenses by 50% was defeated by a 3-2 vote. Instead, the board voted to freeze the district’s annual expenses at $17,500.

The Ventura County district attorney’s office is investigating allegations that Trustee Tom Ely has misappropriated district travel funds. A recent audit found that Ely spent more last year than the four other trustees combined.

The budget also contained more than $11.5 million for new construction, including initial phases of a new gymnasium at Oxnard College and a performing arts theater at Moorpark College.