Redwoods Community College District
Vice President, Chief Business Officer
FINANCIAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE NOTES
May 4, 2007
This was the sixth meeting of the fiscal year and the last one for the academic year. The
meeting agenda was designed primarily to update members on recent issues affecting our
financial situation.
Present
Trish Blair, Ron Cox, Helen Edwards, Leslie Haddock, Ken Magnuson,
John McBrearty, Scott Thomason
Absent
Chris Gaines, David Harris, Tricia Hawkins, Sydney Larson, Rodney
Kaloostian, Jean Lawry,
Budget
Assumptions
Scott reviewed the final version of the Tentative Budget Assumptions.
There were minor differences in language in the Senior Staff and
College Council versions.
This information will go forward to the board as background for the
approval of the Tentative Budget in June.
Ad Hoc Budget
Committee
Scott updated the committee on the discussions of the most recent board
appointed Ad Hoc Budget Committee meeting. The focus of this
meeting was on revenue enhancements. Some of the budget solutions
agreed upon will have an immediate effect, but the majority will be
implemented over time with full impact not expected until future years.
As a consequence, no estimated dollar budget impacts have been
projected. Each project has a leader with monthly reporting to the board
expected beginning in June.
Balanced Budget
Concerns
There was a general discussion on the need to bring revenues and
expenditures into balance and avoid using board designated reserve
funds. It is expected that little or no reserve funds will be needed in the
2006-07 budget year to pay expenditures not covered by current year
revenues. However, revenues are projected to drop substantially in
2007-08 primarily due to declining enrollments. The district has not
identified expenditure budget solutions sufficient to match these revenue
declines.
Some committee members voiced concerns about a general reluctance to
make deeper cuts now. It was noted that the Tentative Budget
background materials will include a preliminary look at the 2008-09
budget year to see how much additional work will be needed to return to
a balanced budget condition over the next two budget cycles.
FINANCIAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE NOTES
May 4, 2007
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Other Topics of
Interest
These additional topics of interest were discussed:
¾ CCCCO Monitoring - Scott indicated that there was no change
in the system office oversight procedures concerning our
financial condition. They are still taking a wait-and-see approach
at this time.
¾ Monthly Board Financial Reports - The board has requested
that staff develop financial information disclosures in a more
understandable format for future monthly reports with additional
details on enrollments and reserves.
¾ Presidential Search - The board took action to approve a
personnel firm to help find an interim president for next year.
Leadership from this position could be critical in assisting the
district in returning to financial stability.
¾ Statewide Ballet Initiative - Scott discussed the provisions of a
newly qualified statewide ballet initiative for California
Community College funding. The changes, if approved by the
voters in February 2008, could have a positive effect on future
state support for community colleges.