As the state’s financial crisis weighs on the college budget, an additional disbursement will have an added impact on the already tough financial times.
After a board of trustees’ election took place last November between William Beverly, current board member, and Wendy Doeh, a campaign bill of $1.1 million poses a negative effect on the college’s upcoming budget plans.
The college, which budgeted $400,000 for the election based on a Los Angeles County estimate, was recently compounded with $700,000 in unanticipated expenses from election officials, Jo Ann Higdon, vice president of administrative services, said.
As the college struggles to fund classes and keep winter session on the academic calendar, this election bill will cause even more budget cuts and uncertainty in the coming year, Joshua Casper, ASO senate executive officer and student trustee, said.
“With more cuts most likely to come, we might have to dip into the reserve from what I am hearing and we would have $700,000 dollars less due to this election,” Casper said. “And so that will effect us in the sense that we won’t have enough money to fund sections and it can affect students in an endless number of ways.”
From previous elections, it was concluded that no other college documented a bill as large as the one delivered to EC and therefore, EC requested and received a breakdown of the costs from election officials, Higdon said.
“The college has little choice but to pay this election bill,” she added. “It is too late to (make) additional budget cuts for the current year for this unanticipated expense.”
Students have different thoughts surrounding the situation, but many of them are not happy with the high cost imposed by the campaign.
“In times like these, it seems like there is always an excuse to cut off education funding,” Jennifer Montoya, 24, sociology major, said. “It is ridiculous.”
While the administration has yet to decide on the measure it will take to pay the election bill or what cut backs, if any, will be made in order to do so, this cost comes at a time of statewide education uncertainty.
“This unplanned additional expenditure of more than seven thousand dollars will negatively impact our ending year balance and our upcoming year’s budget,” Higdon said.
President Tom Fallo, said that a lot of people criticized this election in particular.
“One thing I will say though is that is the price of democracy in one sense or the cost of democracy. A lot of people criticized the election, that particular election, that it was politically motivated.Those are tough words in a sense; I don’t judge it now, I just have to deal with it,” Fallo said. “We have reserves and we will use some of that money that we have in out reserves this year, but we also need some of that money for next year.”
