Big Bend faces 20 percent budget cut

College makes changes

MOSES LAKE - Fewer class offerings, a tuition increase and a reduction in services could hit students at Big Bend Community College.

The state Office of Financial Management advised colleges Wednesday to plan for a 20 percent cut in their state operating budgets during the next two years.

The preparation is a result of the state's projected $5.1 billion budget deficit from 2009 to 2011, according to the college.

"A 20 percent cut would chop off $2 million of our annual $10 million state operating budget," President Bill Bonaudi said. "We were anticipating there might be additional cuts. However, we were not anticipating they would be this high."

It is the largest budget cut Big Bend has ever faced, Bonaudi said.

"The college in its history has faced budget cuts and challenges, but never in this magnitude," he said.

Changes could include staff reductions, less open time slots for classes and less class offerings, reduction in hours for student services and higher tuition.

Vice President of Financial Services Gail Hamburg said some changes were already made to the college's operations.

"Based on the previous revenue forecasts and budget reduction requests, we have set hiring freezes in place, eliminated out-of-state travel and postponed all equipment purchases," Hamburg said. "We have been operating under the target budget reduction of 2.6 percent, or $277,000. We have now been asked to increase this budget reduction to 5 percent, which would require a $544,000 budget reduction for (the 2009) fiscal year."

Students may start to see changes beginning winter quarter, including fewer operating hours for services and a reduction in class availability, Bonaudi said.

The state would be responsible for setting any tuition increases, he said. The state also needs to set its enrollment targets.

"The college's role is to identify what our essential core functions are and to make sure those are absolutely the things we need to protect," Bonaudi said.

Core areas fall into the categories of services, instruction and maintenance, he said.

He hinted staff cuts are a possibility, noting 80 percent of the budget is spent on personnel costs. He said it is difficult to imagine reducing the budget by 20 percent without impacting staffing.

"At this point we're being forced to look at all possible options that are out there," Bonaudi said.

The college formed a Budget Review Task Force, which will make recommendations to Bonaudi and to the Board of Trustees, said Hamburg.

The task force includes faculty, administrative exempt employees, classified staff and students. Hamburg is the task force chair.

Big Bend Director of Public Information Autumn Weis emphasized the college's commitment to helping improve economic conditions for citizens and for the Central Basin.

"We've done it in the past (and) we can do it again, by providing the skilled workforce that our region needs," Weis stated. "We can help those who are hurting the most during this difficult time, through education and training so they can become financially stable, turning out highly trained workers as we battle our way through this recession."

Weis noted the college is part of the solution.

"We can help, but not if we suffer critical losses," she said.