Wayne Community College trustees approve budget
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on September 24, 2014 1:46 PM
The Wayne Community College board of trustees approved the college's $38.7 million budget for the 2014-15 fiscal year Tuesday night.
The amount is a decrease of $6.7 million from the previous year. The difference is attributed to the elimination of the direct loan program at the college, said Joy Kornegay, the college's chief financial officer.
The annual budget reflects the three main sources of funding -- county, state and institutional, which also includes federal money and financial aid.
The total county funding for this fiscal year is $3.9 million, she said. In addition to plant operation and maintenance, that amount includes $36,000 of other anticipated revenues, such as rental income and interest. The capital outlay allotment for the current year is $582,650 and includes $20,000 earmarked for the Wayne Learning Center renovation.
State funding, which primarily covers salaries and some supply items, is determined largely by the community college's full-time equivalent student numbers, or FTEs.
"This year we actually had a decrease of 55 FTEs in the occupational extension (area)," Mrs. Kornegay said. "We have had an increase of 25 FTE curriculum and a decrease of 12 Basic Skills FTEs."
This year's total state budget allotment rose from $21.7 million to $22.5 million, an increase of $832,044. The legislature also provided a $1,000 pay increase for employees and gave eligible employees the opportunity to earn an addition five bonus leave days and increased the employer's matching retirement contributions from 14.69 percent to 15.21 percent.
Since the fall semester just got under way, the budgetary numbers for institutional funds are still incomplete.
"We haven't had a lot of activity so far. That'll pick up the next time I report," Mrs. Kornegay told the board.
The amount is expected to increase with the awarding of financial aid and scholarships for the fall semester, she added.
The board's building committee also gave an update on several projects. Tommy Jarrett, chairman of the committee, said the Wayne Learning Center renovation project is nearly complete. More than 20 change orders and some major delays for materials pushed the project beyond the projected 150-day scheduled completion. Final inspection is anticipated to be conducted soon.
Several maintenance projects have been completed since the last board meeting in July, including campus beautification efforts -- mulched beds in front of the campus, sodded areas dug up to repair hot water lines, removal of some shrubbery and three trees in the parking lot to make room for new trees this fall.
The stage floor of Moffatt Auditorium has also been finished and new cabinets have been installed in three science labs.
Several short-range projects are expected to be completed within the next 90 to 120 days. These include installing nine laptop charging stations for students, three bus shelters and playground equipment at the child care center.