ICC Responds to Budget Cuts Without Cutting out Students
REID HARMAN | THE HARBINGER
EAST PEORIA — The state of Illinois has cut $1 million from the Illinois Central College budget. In response, the college has had to find ways to compensate.
“The discussion about the budget had been about being a balanced budget,” said Bruce Budde, executive vice president of administration and finance. “We were able to balance the budget and not compromise resources that go directly back into the classroom.”
The final budget that was approved on the August 21st Board of Trustees meeting was not the first draft of the budget.
“The overall focus should be on the final budget,” said Budde, “We did get a bit of a surprise with the million dollar reduction from the state.”
Budde explained that even in a $70 million budget, one million dollars still put a kink in the system.
The budget process starts with each department in the college appealing for a certain amount of money based on their needs and goals for the fiscal year. Then, the finance department compiles the numbers and approves or strikes down certain budgets. The college had already finished this process when the cuts were made.
“We had published a tentative budget, and then were in the final budget stage,” said Budde, explaining the situation as it happened, “So, now, we have to find this million dollar change.”
Budde and his cabinet group were tasked with finding ways to reduce the expenditures in the budget. Then, they searched for ways to increase revenue.
“We found ways to be more efficient in how we operate the facilities,” Budde said, “Fortunately, we anticipated more revenue from different property taxes. We can also utilize [the Educational] Foundation resources.”
Even with the anticipated cut, ICC hopes to be able to continue to update the college.
“For us to be competitive, we have to give [the students] the best experience possible,” Budde said, “We are focused in the investment in our facilities. [Students] will see the big capital projects continue.”
Budde mentioned that the North campus renovations and the ongoing project of updating classrooms to be technologically current will continue in light of the cuts.
Find the original and revised budgets here:
ICC – 2014-15 Tentative Budget