BUDGET PLANNING COMMITTEE
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
2:00 p.m.
SS 109
Draft
Summary Notes
MEMBERS
PRESENT
Bob Brown, Solomon DeCamp, Michael Dennis, Tami Engman, Tim Flanagan,
Dave Gonsalves (phone), Utpal Goswami, Anita Janis (phone), Sharrie King,
Lee Lindsey, Carla Spalding, Steve Stratton
ALSO PRESENT
Pat Girczyc, Bill Hole (phone), Roxanne Metz, Lynn Thiesen,
President/Superintendent Kathy Smith
CALL TO ORDER
ACTION
APPROVE
SUMMARY
NOTES
The meeting was called to order by committee co-chair Lee Lindsey.
DISCUSSION
ACCJC VISIT
UPDATE
The summary notes from October 17, 2012 were not available.
President Smith reported that at this point there has been a lot of positive feedback
from the chair of the accreditation visiting team regarding the written report. She
noted that he conveyed to her that the report addresses all of the recommendations
except for III D which is related to finance. She also noted that there are going to
be a limited number of team members available and they will not be able to do a
complete comprehensive review and their report will be based mostly on the
written report.
President Smith informed the committee that the team will want to see a running
total of what has been done so far to address the district’s financial concerns. She
stated that they will also want to see that the Board of Trustees has given the
administration authority to transfer funds from the Employee Benefits trust to the
general fund if necessary. She also stated that the team will be looking for some
indication from CSEA and CRFO that their groups understand the district’s current
and future budget challenges and that the long-term solution includes a reduction
in the workforce. President Smith continued by saying that by mid-December
when the addendum to the show cause report is submitted we need to be able to
say that there have been concessions from all employee groups. She noted that the
message the team needs to hear is that everyone understands the district’s financial
position and has some understanding of how it got there.
Lee Lindsey reported that after receiving advice from bond counsel some expenses
from the general fund have been moved to the bond fund which will help the
general fund balance.
Bob Brown asked for an update regarding non-resident tuition. Mr. Lindsey
replied that the district will probably see a slight increase in revenue from nonresident students this year.
BOARD ITEM
EMPLOYEE
BENEFIT TRUST
TRANSFER
Mr. Lindsey explained to the committee that the request to transfer funds from the
Employee Benefit Trust will be on the November Board of Trustees meeting
agenda. This request will authorize the administration to transfer funds from the
Employee Benefit Trust to the district’s general fund if necessary to maintain
financial stability. He noted that the actual transfer may not take place if at all
until after the district’s books are closed next year. This is a “backup plan” in the
event that enough savings are not realized from the district’s budget savings
efforts.
PLANNING FOR
AFTER THE
NOVEMBER
ELECTION
There was discussion regarding proposition 30 and it was reiterated that we have
already budgeted with the assumption that it will not pass. However, if it does pass
enrollment growth money will come into play. It may be difficult to reach the
FTES cap this year but we may be able to next year. Mr. Lindsey stated that he has
heard rumor that if the proposition does not pass there could possibly be a midyear budget cut from the state.
PROGRAM
REVIEW UPDATE
Mr. Lindsey stated that the Furniture and Equipment committee is being sun-setted
as it has completed its purpose. This year we will try to have committees bundle
projects under $5, 000 into groups so that it will decrease the total number of items
to be ranked. There will be a few mandatory and/or regulatory items that will not
be ranked.
There was discussion regarding the processes that are currently in place for
program review and it was noted that we will continue to see minor adjustments to
help improve them. It was suggested that some sort of criteria or rubric be
developed for use in the ranking process. It was stated by Bob Brown that he has
become a proponent of doing two rankings which consist of a draft and then a final
ranking. Bob noted that this allows there to be discussion if there are
inconsistencies on any item ranked.
ADJOURNED
The meeting was adjourned at 3:00 p.m.
SUBMITTED
lw