Video: Community Colleges Coping With State Budget Cuts

by Victoria Bailey

MAYHEW,Miss.(WCBI)—Community colleges across the state learn about a budget cut this week…it’s another slash to budgets.

Governor Phil Bryant says this is, in part, due to an accounting error.

Now, with one point six percent of it’s budget gone…some community colleges are trying to figure out where to cut.

Vic President For Administration, Paul Miller says,”Any cut is going to impact us in some way you know something’s not going to get done or you know it just depends on the level of that cut just how significant it’s going to be.”

Talk of cutting the state budget is NOW more then just talk. More budget cuts were made this week, meaning less money for community colleges and other agencies.

However, EMCC is still trying to see how the governor’s cuts will impact its campuses.

Miller says.”We really don’t know what that’s going to effect. It could mean that you know some small project that we have; you know may need to be delayed.”

Schools are now adjusting budgets to make sure their bottom line is correct.

Miller says,”Once they notify us of that; The chief financial officer for emcc and I will sit and look at our budget work book. We’ll make some determinations and talk to some of our cabinet about where we’ll try and make the cuts and make those recommendation to the president.”

EMCC tries to make sure decisions made in Jackson have as little impact on students as possible.

“We’re going to avoid looking at anything that directly impacts the classroom we feel like we’re going to be able to do that.
All of our departments and programs have their own operating budget That are set up each year,”Says Miller.

The school is no stranger to budget cuts.

Miller says,”Last year we had cuts that happened after the beginning of the calendar year. So that’s in the middle of the budget year and the cut had to be the equivalent of the full year’s budget of what was happening so it makes it a little bit tougher when your having to make that kind of a cut. But if it has to happen we have a little bit more time to plan at the beginning of the year.”

The Tuition Guarantee will not be impacted by the budget cuts.

Medicaid, The department of public safety and Veterans Affairs are exempt from the current round of State budget cuts.