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Midland College budget includes employee raises
by Ruth Campbell
Midland Reporter-Telegram
- Excluding grants and state-paid benefits, expenditures are up a projected $2.7 million from last year.
By Ruth Campbell
Staff Writer
Midland College's 900-plus employees will get raises this year as part of the school's $38.5 million budget for the upcoming year.
The preliminary 2008-09 budget -- which does not include grants and state-paid benefits -- is $38,578,934 compared to $35,870,177 for 2007-08 -- which is up $2.7 million.
Projected tax rate for 2008-09 is .18125 cents per $100 valuation, down from .19112 cents per $100 valuation last year.
Vice President of Administrative Services Rick Bender said full-time employees, such as faculty, staff and administrators, will receive a 5 percent salary increase. "Classified staff," including maintenance workers, groundskeepers, clerical personnel and secretaries, will net a 6 percent raise.
The increase for so-called classified staff is needed because they easily can get paid comparable wages or more in other jobs, particularly maintenance personnel, due to the bustling local economy, Bender said.
State funds have gone down $30,000 from $9,806,370 in 2007-08 to $9,776,870 for 2008-09. The state in fiscal year 1984 provided 60 percent of revenue and in fiscal year 2006 -- 28 percent.
The budget is based on the state doing what it promised in October 2007 -- restoring funds for employee health benefits, Bender said.
If the fund restoration does not occur, Bender said the school will have a "dramatically different budget" to present in August. The Legislative Budget Board is "studying various options for transferring the funds, and action will be taken by Sept. 1 as promised in the agreement," Alexis DeLee, spokeswoman for House Speaker Tom Craddick, R-Midland, told the Austin American-Statesman in its June 27 edition.
If insurance funding is not restored, that would put an extra $2 million burden on the college.
"We would have to do one of several things, or possibly a combination," Bender said. "We may have to eliminate salary increases, new positions and we might have to freeze vacant positions," or dip into its fund balance.
Other planned budget increases include:
- Some $299,500 in new positions to be added in 2008-09 for the faculty in biology, chemistry, aviation maintenance technology, grants development specialist and Go Center coordinator. MC was awarded a $134,000 grant from the Texas Pioneer Foundation in San Marcos to buy the center, which will travel to rural areas to get kids and parents thinking about college.
Also, a vehicle make ready/driver position and an assistant set-up custodian for all the activities on campus, Bender said.
- A $194,400 increase in adjunct faculty and lab instructor.
- Major non-personnel changes will cost $473,724. These include costs for maintaining additional square footage in new buildings and renovations financed by the $41.8 million bond issue passed in 2005.
- Some $183,000 for two counselors, an assistant to the director of physical plant, shipping/receiving clerk and cosmetology lab instructor. Bender said these were added in 2007-08 after state employee insurance funding was restored.
- Faculty positions budgeted for 2007-08 were in health information technology and government faculty at a cost of $54,000.
Assuming $2 million in state-funded employee insurance is restored, MC restored two counselors, an assistant to the director of physical plant, cosmetology lab instructor and a shipping and receiving clerk.
Trustees also:
- Officially hired Steve Thomas as the new president. His target starting date is Aug. 15. Thomas, who was president of Vernon College, takes over for retiring President David Daniel, who announced in January he was stepping down.
Thomas has not yet signed a contract, so a salary was unavailable Monday.
- Approved leave for drama professor David Allen. According to an MC memo, Allen will not be teaching this summer or fall. Allen was charged with trafficking in child pornography and is free on bond.
- Authorized Parkhill, Smith & Cooper architects/engineers to negotiate with RBR Construction of Weatherford to expand the Fox Science Building for Texas Tech University Health Science Center's physician assistant program.
- Authorized a resolution for the issuance and sale of $12.355 million in bonds to refinance outstanding bonds and add more than $9 million in funds for ongoing bond projects.
Ruth Campbell can be reached at ruth@mrt.com.
By Ruth Campbell
Staff Writer
Midland College's 900-plus employees will get raises this year as part of the school's $38.5 million budget for the upcoming year.
The preliminary 2008-09 budget -- which does not include grants and state-paid benefits -- is $38,578,934 compared to $35,870,177 for 2007-08 -- which is up $2.7 million.
Projected tax rate for 2008-09 is .18125 cents per $100 valuation, down from .19112 cents per $100 valuation last year.
Vice President of Administrative Services Rick Bender said full-time employees, such as faculty, staff and administrators, will receive a 5 percent salary increase. "Classified staff," including maintenance workers, groundskeepers, clerical personnel and secretaries, will net a 6 percent raise.
The increase for so-called classified staff is needed because they easily can get paid comparable wages or more in other jobs, particularly maintenance personnel, due to the bustling local economy, Bender said.
State funds have gone down $30,000 from $9,806,370 in 2007-08 to $9,776,870 for 2008-09. The state in fiscal year 1984 provided 60 percent of revenue and in fiscal year 2006 -- 28 percent.
The budget is based on the state doing what it promised in October 2007 -- restoring funds for employee health benefits, Bender said.
If the fund restoration does not occur, Bender said the school will have a "dramatically different budget" to present in August. The Legislative Budget Board is "studying various options for transferring the funds, and action will be taken by Sept. 1 as promised in the agreement," Alexis DeLee, spokeswoman for House Speaker Tom Craddick, R-Midland, told the Austin American-Statesman in its June 27 edition.
If insurance funding is not restored, that would put an extra $2 million burden on the college.
"We would have to do one of several things, or possibly a combination," Bender said. "We may have to eliminate salary increases, new positions and we might have to freeze vacant positions," or dip into its fund balance.
Other planned budget increases include:
- Some $299,500 in new positions to be added in 2008-09 for the faculty in biology, chemistry, aviation maintenance technology, grants development specialist and Go Center coordinator. MC was awarded a $134,000 grant from the Texas Pioneer Foundation in San Marcos to buy the center, which will travel to rural areas to get kids and parents thinking about college.
Also, a vehicle make ready/driver position and an assistant set-up custodian for all the activities on campus, Bender said.
- A $194,400 increase in adjunct faculty and lab instructor.
- Major non-personnel changes will cost $473,724. These include costs for maintaining additional square footage in new buildings and renovations financed by the $41.8 million bond issue passed in 2005.
- Some $183,000 for two counselors, an assistant to the director of physical plant, shipping/receiving clerk and cosmetology lab instructor. Bender said these were added in 2007-08 after state employee insurance funding was restored.
- Faculty positions budgeted for 2007-08 were in health information technology and government faculty at a cost of $54,000.
Assuming $2 million in state-funded employee insurance is restored, MC restored two counselors, an assistant to the director of physical plant, cosmetology lab instructor and a shipping and receiving clerk.
Trustees also:
- Officially hired Steve Thomas as the new president. His target starting date is Aug. 15. Thomas, who was president of Vernon College, takes over for retiring President David Daniel, who announced in January he was stepping down.
Thomas has not yet signed a contract, so a salary was unavailable Monday.
- Approved leave for drama professor David Allen. According to an MC memo, Allen will not be teaching this summer or fall. Allen was charged with trafficking in child pornography and is free on bond.
- Authorized Parkhill, Smith & Cooper architects/engineers to negotiate with RBR Construction of Weatherford to expand the Fox Science Building for Texas Tech University Health Science Center's physician assistant program.
- Authorized a resolution for the issuance and sale of $12.355 million in bonds to refinance outstanding bonds and add more than $9 million in funds for ongoing bond projects.
Ruth Campbell can be reached at ruth@mrt.com.
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The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of mywesttexas.com.
Kay wrote on Jul 1, 2008 10:42 PM:
" Leave of absence? HIs contract is up for renewal in August. This is outrageous. Surely they are not going to keep him working at the college. Why not put him on the street with the other work teams picking up trash. This should be better than rehab. "
West-Texian wrote on Jul 2, 2008 12:15 PM:
" ---One recent year t (maybe 4 years ago) hey announced EVERYONE would get a raise... it didn't happen, adjuncts who teach a large part of the classes taught at MC got ZERO.
---Last year Adjuncts were supposed to get as raise and it was taken away after our "wonderful" governor, Perry, vetoed all of the health insurance benefits for community college employees--- they had been paid by the state for years. Our salary raise was taken away and used to pay insurance for full time personnel..
---I will believe these raises when they appear in my check. "
---Last year Adjuncts were supposed to get as raise and it was taken away after our "wonderful" governor, Perry, vetoed all of the health insurance benefits for community college employees--- they had been paid by the state for years. Our salary raise was taken away and used to pay insurance for full time personnel..
---I will believe these raises when they appear in my check. "
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wow wrote on Jul 1, 2008 7:55 AM:
1st. rehab and now a leave from work...no jail time..
I hope when I do something so wrong I hope I still have a job to come back to. "