While the Cuesta College Board of Trustees is looking at strategies to offset a $551,000 budget deficit, the faculty union is pushing for higher pay. [Tribune]
Lower enrollment coupled with increased unfunded pension liabilities have led to the current fiscal year budget deficit. In the 2011-2012 school year, the campus had 8,646 full time student. With a current reduction of 337 full-time students, the campus incurred a financial loss of $1.79 million.
Also contributing to the deficit, is an increase in payments of more than $600,000 to the California Public Employees Retirement System and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System.
The board of trustees is looking at a variety of strategies to combat the current deficit including an early retirement program, a selective hiring freeze, duel enrollment for local high school students and a scholarship program to increase enrollment.
While the administration is seeking to reduce spending, the teachers union is requesting a 2.5 percent salary increase. The district has offered a 1 percent increase.
In 2014-15 the faculty received a 2 percent raise followed by a 5 percent increase in 2015-16. If the district and the faculty union are unable to agree on raises, the faculty could go on strike.
I hate to keep beating a dead horse:(
The issue that isn’t being mentioned, is Pension cost’s, when CalPers/CalSters lowered their rate of(which is still higher than the actual returns) Return on their investment portfolio’s, Cities, Counties, Special Districts and Schools all slid precariously into the red!!! None of them had the Political will to deal with the well known unfunded liability issue, just wait for it to become a emergency and then put their hands out for a bail out:(
And just how are we supposed to provide “free” college for all?
Thank You Gill Stork, he retires with his nice pension and the rest of us or left footing the bill for something he knew was coming but just wanted to get his and get out before the bad news came home. A common thing many feeding off the taxpayers are trying and doing, Katie Litchig for starters, and there are many others, get theirs get and get out before the bad news becomes public.
Don’t forget Gil Storke told us in a letter to the Tribune Editor that he was seeking a property tax bond (which the voters gave him) because it was easier to take it from the property tax payer than going through the Sacramento funding application process. Why? I don’t know, laziness? More likely avoiding accountability. Subsequently there were surpluses in state community college funding. Storke did this County no favors and like most bureaucrats “hosed” the property tax payer with ease. Maybe Cuesta needs to get back into the State funding “trough”, if they haven’t already. They wouldn’t be the first school district to ask for the same lump of money from more than once source and then accept it from all. That’s a game they all play. No sympathies from this tax payer for Cuesta.