August 21, 2012

Board of Trustees approves Blinn’s 2012-13 budget

College expects 8.20 percent revenue increase in upcoming fiscal year

The Blinn College Board of Trustees approved its 2012-13 budget during its regular meeting Tuesday night at the College’s Brenham campus, including an 8.20 percent revenue increase over the previous fiscal year.

The new budget allocates $85.50 million in revenue, a $6.48 million increase over the 2011-12 budget. The College anticipates a $5.2 million increase in net tuition and fees owing to a $2 in-district tuition increase, an $8 out-of-district and non-resident tuition increase and a $2 general fee increase per credit hour.

At $123 per credit hour, Blinn’s out-of-district tuition and fees are still below the statewide average of $125 and compare favorably to nearby community colleges Victoria ($127), Lone Star ($129), Wharton ($132), Houston ($140) and Temple ($154).

Some of the increased revenue will be used to fund a 3 percent faculty and staff salary increase with a minimum employee raise of $1,000 that was approved during the board’s July meeting. Full-time faculty also received a one-time increase in longevity pay of $1,000.

The College’s contingency fund will remain in place due to the continued uncertainty of state funding, increasing from $633,660 to $2.13 million. The College earmarked $1.5 million for costs of the pending reorganization.

The board also adopted a resolution to set the 2012 tax rate at the recommended $0.0567 per $100 valuation as determined by Washington County Chief Appraiser Willy Dilworth.
In other action, the board:

Waived non-credit course fees for participants of the intensive college readiness programs for adult education students.
Set external usage fees for simulation and clinical labs at the Blinn College Health Science Center campus.
Authorized the administration to negotiate a professional engineering services contract with DBR Engineering Consultants, Inc., for the design of an alternative power source for the main distribution frame and intermediate distribution frame rooms on the Brenham and Bryan campuses.
Authorized the administration to award bids for frozen food, grocery, cooler, meat, milk and bread products for Sept. 1, 2012 – Feb. 28, 2013.
Authorized the administration to award a Request For Proposal for Fall charter bus travel.
Revised board policies DH (Local): Employee Standards of Conduct, FLB (Local): Student Rights and Responsibilities – Student Conduct and GFA (Local): Student and Community Use of College District Facilities – Conduct on College District Premises to implement designated smoking areas.
Established a fine for the violation of the tobacco use policy.