HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Board of Trustees approved the 2014-15 Hutchinson Community College budget at the monthly board meeting on August 14.
The board approved the budget after a public hearing to begin the meeting. Dr. Carter File, HCC President, presented the budget proposal at the hearing.
The proposal for the fiscal 2015 budget year has been influenced by a variety of factors.
For the 2014-2015 fiscal year, state revenue is forecast to be flat. Tuition increased by $5 per credit hour with a $10 per credit hour remittance for Reno County residents. County valuation is slated to increase by approximately 2.87 percent. Even with salary increases at 3.16 percent, increased insurance costs, increased costs for technology, increased energy costs and enrollment projected to be flat, the college mill levy will decline slightly this year. Since 2010, the levy has been lowered by approximately 2 mills and is the lowest it has been in the last ten years, even including the .5 mills approved by Reno County for Gowans Stadium in 2004.
The next meeting of the board will be on Thursday, September 11. The meeting will be at 7 p.m. in the Shears Technology Center Justice Theater. The public is invited to attend.