Approved Minutes

COLLEGE OF THE SEQUOIAS

BUDGET COMMITTEE MEETING SUMMARY

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Members Present: Mike Skaff (Co-Chair), Matt Bourez, Brent Calvin, Debbie Castro,

Omar Gutierrez, Tim Hollabaugh, Mary Schaeffer, Osvaldo Arroyo,

Kacie Scambler (representing Manuel Hernandez)

Exofficio: Linda McCauley, Chief Accounting Officer

Karen Pauls, Executive Assistant, Administrative Services

Absent: David Maciel (Co-Chair), Lisa Brandis, Christina Enquist,

Dianna Favour, William Garcia, Chris Knox, Robert Morris,

Steve Renton, Manuel Hernandez

Minutes: Karen Pauls, Executive Assistant, Administrative Services

The Standing Budget Committee meeting was called to order by Mike Skaff at 3:00pm.

1. Approval of the April 28, 2011 Budget Committee Minutes

Motion to approve the minutes of the April 28, 2011 meeting was made by Matt Bourez and seconded by Debbie Castro.

2. Introduction of New Members

Mike Skaff welcomed all new members.

3. Final 2011-2012 Budget

Linda reviewed the 2011-2012 Final Budget Book.

Pg. 7 - Linda discussed Full Time Equivalent Students (FTES), which determines the dollar amount the District is paid by the state. If a student carries 15 units the District is paid for one FTES. Brent explained that the state has capped the number of FTES they will fund. COS is only being paid for 8,387 FTES. We have 1,500 unfunded FTES from

last year. This year there will be an additional 6.2% unfunded FTES. There was

discussion of Hanford gaining Center Status. Brent explained that Hanford must have

500 FTES for Center Status. If Hanford gains Center Status and reaches 1,000 FTES

then COS is eligible for an additional $1,000,000.

Pg. 11 –At tentative and adopted, the Fund Balance Draw remains at Zero. Final

adopted received a 6.22% workload reduction.

Pg. 30 – Linda pointed out that the budget does not reflect the actual health benefits

rates for 2011-2012. The rates in the budget are the capped rates for 2009-2010.

Pg. 36 - Linda explained the “Banked Leave Time Calculation.” Banked Leave is

earned by instructors who teach an overload class, but do not take the overload

payment. That allows the instructor to teach a lighter load in a later semester and

still collect their full salary.

Pg. 37 – Tim asked why only certain items were included on the “Long Term Contracts”

page. Linda explained that if all long term contracts were included the list would

be several pages long. Mike pointed out that some people look at this list and think

those are all of the contracts COS has. Linda mentioned this item would be reviewed for

the next budget book.

Pg. 39 – Linda pointed out that the State continues to defer payments to us due to the

State’s cash crunch. COS participates annually in Tax Revenue Anticipation Notes

(TRAN) and has a municipal lease with Valley Business Bank (1.9% interest) to assist

with cash shortfalls in monthly obligations such as payroll and payables. COS draws on

the TRAN in December because we close early for the holidays and don’t have funding

to make payments.

4. Financial Implications of Mid-Year Cuts

The mid-year cuts will be determined by the revenue received by the State. There are

several tiers to the cuts and the tiers are built one on top of the other. For COS Tier 0

would result in a cut of $240,000 and tier 1 would result in cuts of $576,000 for a total

of $816,000. One of the triggers for mid-year cuts is charging $46 per unit. If this

happens, the new fees will begin Summer 2012.

5. Anticipated Health & Benefits Costs for 2011-2012

There was a 4% increase from CVT. The final budget does not reflect the rate for 2011-2012. The budget has the capped rates from 2009-2010.

6. Bond Obligation

Brent explained that the Bond Committees are aware that bond funds are being used to help address the deficit and that it is an acceptable practice. He also discussed the possibility of paying off several smaller COP’s with the remaining Measure I funds. This would break our reliance on bond money and there would be saving from on-going COP costs.

7. Reserves

Linda explained that the COS Board of Trustees requires a 6% reserve and we ended

the fiscal year with a 5.4% reserve. If a district falls below a 3% reserve they go on a

state “watch list” and representatives are sent to the district to assist with financial

matters.

8. Summer 2012

At this time, there is nothing to report about summer session 2012. However, summer

session is not included in the final budget. The budget will have to be increased if there

is a summer session and the budget will show a fund balance draw.

9. Other

There were no other items of discussion and the meeting was adjourned at 4:07pm.

10. Date of Next Meeting (Thursday, February 16, 2012).