MCC weighs budget options ♥

Published in the Courier-Tribune on March 11, 2011

by Hugh Martin

TROY — Montgomery Community College officials face difficult decisions regarding their ability to continue to offer the current level of service with prospects of a significant budget reduction for the 2011-2012 fiscal year.

Matthew Woodard, interim vice president of administrative and student services, presented some disturbing predictions to the MCC Board of Trustees if Montgomery County commissioners are unable to meet the $810,000 budget request that the board approved at their March 9 meeting.

Woodard told board members that the county budgeted $973,017 three years ago for the college, but that County Manager Lance Metzler is proposing just $701,191 for the school in the upcoming budget year, a reduction of almost 28 percent.

County Commissioner Jim Matheney, who was present for the meeting, said that the cuts should be more in the range of five to eight percent.

The amount that the college is requesting would fund eight full-time salaries, utilities, maintenance and custodial supplies, insurance, vehicle operations and service contracts.

While the college receives funds from the state, the facility is owned by the county and must be maintained with county money. MCC President Dr. Mary Kirk said that she would love to be able to maintain the facilities with state money.

“We can’t do that,” she said.

Woodard read a statement from Metzler in which he said “the (MCC) board asked us to determine the amount of revenue and, based on prior year’s percentage of budget, that we allocate the revenue that way this year. Since our revenue has been reduced significantly, then this year’s first allocation is also reduced. As we move through this process this number may increase or decrease but we wanted to give them an opportunity to start working on their budget.”

Woodard said that he has been working on possible solutions for staying within the budget that Metzler is proposing. He said that the first choice for cuts would be salaries, specifically eliminating two positions, leaving one facilities director and five employees to handle all the plant operational, maintenance, custodial, and grounds work for the entire campus.

“If $700,000 is all this county can afford then they cannot afford this college,” Woodard told the board. He said according to North Carolina statutes, state financial support may be withdrawn if “the required local financial support of an institution is not provided.”

“We desperately need what we are requesting — $810,000,” Woodard said.

Woodard urged county officials to measure the economic impact that the college provides: Annual salaries for more than 200 employees equal $6,278,832 and purchases in Montgomery County totaling more than $250,000 each year.

If the college were forced to close due to lack of funding, Woodard added, around “4,000 students each year searching for a better life will have to look elsewhere. Programs could be lost that are a part of the heritage and pride of MCC.”

Kirk told board members that the request for $810,000 would be made to county commissioners and that negotiations would proceed from there.

“People here are working hard and making do with what we have,” she said.