LINN, Mo. - Administrators for the State Technical College of Missouri - still called Linn State Technical College until July 1 - will begin the new budget year on July 1 with a nearly $28 million budget.
Lawmakers approved the name change last year.
The financial plan includes a $16,737,646 operating budget, almost $216,000 more than the current business year that ends June 30.
The school's revenue assumptions are based on a flat enrollment, according to Jeff Fletcher, Linn State's director of Administration and Finance.
By agreement with the governor's office, tuition will remain the same for the coming school year, he said.
Although the board expressed some concerns that Gov. Jay Nixon might withhold some money because of his ongoing fight with lawmakers over tax cuts, Fletcher and Linn State President Don Claycomb said they're expecting most, if not all, of the $4,960,745 state appropriation that lawmakers approved in early May.
Although Nixon has not announced budget actions yet, Fletcher said he's expecting a 5.2 percent increase for performance funding.
"It's nice to get a 5.2 percent increase," said Board President John Klebba. "But, obviously, it's not 5.2 percent of our (total) budget."
Still, Claycomb told the board, "When you look at what we were from our highest level of (state) appropriation to our lowest level of appropriation, we were down 20 percent - which represents $1 million."
Linn State's expenses include a 1.5 percent pay raise for all existing staff and faculty.
A change in the Missouri State Employees Retirement Plan's costs reduced the school's contributions for employees by .01 percent.
The budget also includes a $200,000 contingency fund again this year, which has helped the college weather previous low-budget situations.
"We tend to budget conservatively," Claycomb said. "We budget high on the the expense side and low on the revenue side. We think it's easier to handle a problem that arises if we're wrong, if we go in that direction."
Klebba, who also is president of Legends Bank, later said he's pleased with the way the school's administration has managed the budget over his 18 years as a board member.
Regents also approved the school's six-year plan, to run through 2020.
"How we got here today was a process that we used, that first had you approve the mission package in January," said Rich Mihalevich, Linn State's dean of Institutional Research and Planning. "Then that kind of set the stage for finalizing the plan that's before you today."
Although enrollment for most colleges around the nation is flat - because there are fewer high school graduates expected over the next decade - Mihalevich said Linn State's niche is well-defined.
"We try to go with the programs that are not commonly offered by area vocational schools and community colleges," he said.
Claycomb agreed, noting the school works strongly to adjust programs as needed to fit changing technologies.
"When we think about the first car we we ever owned, the one that we drive today," he said, "is drastically different from the first car we ever owned."
The board voted to keep Klebba as board president for another year, even after he reminded them he's at least four years past the end of his second term.
Last January, the regents extended Claycomb's contract through June 2016.
During a closed session Friday, the regents gave Claycomb a $10,000 raise.
"He has provided just outstanding leadership," Klebba said. "It's hard to value a leader as important to an institution as he is."