2008 Woodie Awards
Board approves budget that includes 4 percent raise for faculty, staff
Tax increase proposed to help pay for new budget.
By Regis L. Roberts
Issue date: 6/30/08 Section: News
Originally published: 8/7/08 at 6:10 PM CSTLast update: 9/4/08 at 2:02 PM CST
He said he would not vote for the tax increase if he could not receive an explanation as to why it was necessary.
Weiner voted for the budget in the audit, budget and finance committee meeting, but left immediately after the vote, missing the special board meeting that followed. The debate over the budget, which ran from around 6:30 p.m. to almost 9 p.m., lasted well past the scheduled time for the entire audit, budget and finance committee meeting.
To these and other concerns raised by board members, McLaughlin replied that all he could do was present the data to them and tell them how the district would be adversely affected without these additional forms of revenue.
McLaughlin said the colleges and the district have had to rely less on state funding and more on tuition and fees and their tax base. The most dramatic cut in state funding came in the 2004-05 fiscal year when the state cut back its support level from 15 percent to 18 percent, with the district suffering the full 18 percent cut, he said.
State appropriations based on enrollment are about $68 million, he said, and District 5 trustee Roberto Zárate said the state is supposed to pay for operational costs, but the district has had to pick up these costs with tax revenue.
In recent board meetings, trustees, especially Zárate, have addressed concerns that the Legislature will put more emphasis on graduation rates when deciding how funding is divided among universities and community colleges.
Zárate and others have said that this will directly affect community colleges adversely because many community college students do not enroll with the intent of graduating. Instead, many students want to receive a certificate or learn new skills for their job, he said.
The board, Zárate said Tuesday, needs to get on the Legislature's radar by putting more pressure on them. Organizing community college trustees to advocate to the Legislature on behalf of community colleges has been an idea endorsed by this district's trustees, and Zárate has even formed a group called Community College Association of Texas Trustees to achieve this.
Weiner voted for the budget in the audit, budget and finance committee meeting, but left immediately after the vote, missing the special board meeting that followed. The debate over the budget, which ran from around 6:30 p.m. to almost 9 p.m., lasted well past the scheduled time for the entire audit, budget and finance committee meeting.
To these and other concerns raised by board members, McLaughlin replied that all he could do was present the data to them and tell them how the district would be adversely affected without these additional forms of revenue.
McLaughlin said the colleges and the district have had to rely less on state funding and more on tuition and fees and their tax base. The most dramatic cut in state funding came in the 2004-05 fiscal year when the state cut back its support level from 15 percent to 18 percent, with the district suffering the full 18 percent cut, he said.
State appropriations based on enrollment are about $68 million, he said, and District 5 trustee Roberto Zárate said the state is supposed to pay for operational costs, but the district has had to pick up these costs with tax revenue.
In recent board meetings, trustees, especially Zárate, have addressed concerns that the Legislature will put more emphasis on graduation rates when deciding how funding is divided among universities and community colleges.
Zárate and others have said that this will directly affect community colleges adversely because many community college students do not enroll with the intent of graduating. Instead, many students want to receive a certificate or learn new skills for their job, he said.
The board, Zárate said Tuesday, needs to get on the Legislature's radar by putting more pressure on them. Organizing community college trustees to advocate to the Legislature on behalf of community colleges has been an idea endorsed by this district's trustees, and Zárate has even formed a group called Community College Association of Texas Trustees to achieve this.
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