Despite enrollment declines this year, Harford Community College officials say they are on track to meet budget goals, including eliminating a recurring structural deficit.
Less uncertain, however, is how they will deal with a cutback in capital spending now that Harford County Executive Barry Glassman has declared a one-year delay of funding for any new building projects supported by the county.
Thanks to recent tuition and fee increases, the college is very close to meeting student-derived revenue goals for the current semester, members of the college's board of trustees were told by HCC administrators Tuesday.
But current students, and those who attend HCC in the future, could see a decrease in the quality of their campus buildings and other facilities, as next year's capital budget is poised to take a major hit with no county funding.
Enrollment report
Student enrollment at HCC during the current semester has decreased compared to spring 2014 but is still higher than what was projected when the current budget was formulated, HCC President Dennis Golladay said.
"I know that at the top, it doesn't look like good news, but actually it is," he said.
The report shows 3,518 full time equivalent students enrolled as of the second week of the Spring 2015 semester, which began Jan. 26. There were exactly 100 more full-time equivalents, 3,618, as of the same time during the Spring 2014 semester, meaning the FTE enrollment has decreased 2.8 percent.
"We're over our projections, but we're not doing as well as we did last spring, which we expected," Golladay explained.
The total head count is 5,958 so far, compared to 6,171 a year ago, and students are taking 52,795 credit hours, versus 54,265 total credit hours during the last spring semester.
From a revenue standpoint, the decline in students attending is being offset by the previous tuition and fee increases.
HCC trustees approved a budget for fiscal 2015 with a $12 per-credit-hour tuition increase and a 2.57 percent student fee increase, and the board-approved budget request for fiscal 2016 comes with another $12 tuition increase.
Students who live in Harford County currently pay $104 per credit hour in tuition, and if the latest tuition will move the tuition to $116 per credit hour after July 1.
College officials anticipated $6.71 million in revenue for spring 2015, and $6.53 million has come in so far, meaning HCC has hit 97.4 percent of its revenue goal for the spring semester, according to the enrollment report presented Tuesday.
College officials have developed a $47.2 million operating budget for fiscal 2016, which includes a $12 per-credit-hour tuition increase, that would close the structural deficit, where expenses exceed revenues, and the gap must be covered with a transfer from cash reserves, that has plagued HCC operating budgets in recent years.
Capital budget issues
The county government administration does not plan to provide local support for the capital budget in the coming fiscal year, Golladay said.
"We are not going to get any projects funded [by the county]," he said, recounting a recent meeting with county Director of Administration Billy Boniface.
Glassman has stated multiple times that he plans to forego funding for capital projects, including those desired by Harford County Public Schools and HCC, and focus on the county's human capital as he develops his first budget this spring.
For FY2016 the trustees have approved a $12.9 million capital request that would be funded by state and local sources. Golladay said the state typically covers 52 percent of the annual capital request, and the county covers the remaining 48 percent.
The college could lose up to $6.21 million in capital funds from the county, based on the 48 percent figure.
The majority of next year's capital request, $10.5 million, would cover renovations of and additions to existing buildings, including $2.5 million toward planning the construction of a regional workforce development center.
Long-term projects for the next five to six years include renovations to the Chesapeake Theater, the student center, campus library and Fallston Hall.
Golladay said he still expects state support for capital projects next year, and the county could provide funding for planning of projects during the 2017 fiscal year, based on his conversations with Glassman and others in his administration.
"We are on the list for the state projects," he told board members. "We've discussed this with the county."
Trustee John Haggerty urged Golladay and his administration to avoid any situation with a capital project where either the state or county is not ready to provide financial support.
"All of a sudden, we've got a great project, one that's sorely needed, that just falls through the cracks," Haggerty said.
Golladay responded that "we're determined not to let it fall through the cracks."
Two of HCC's major construction projects, the Towson University at Northeastern Maryland building and Darlington Hall, which houses all nursing and allied health programs, were completed during the current academic year.
Rick Johnson, vice president of finance and operations, said the $1.9 million Hickory Center is on schedule to be finished in June. That building, which is east of the Joppa parking lot, will house computer and technology services.
Johnson said the project to replace the leaky roof of the Susquehanna Center, at a cost of $647,113, should be completed in the next five days.