Refund No Cure-All for Colleges’ Budget

Trustees of the Ventura County Community College District could use an expected $1-million health-insurance refund to make up an $800,000 deficit, but that would leave more than $1 million in other liabilities unfunded, officials said.

Since Gov. Pete Wilson vetoed a bill Friday that would have reimbursed money community colleges have lost to shrinking property tax revenues, the district has been unable to meet the $59.6-million budget it adopted last month.

Vice Chancellor Jeff Marsee recommended that trustees use reserves, cut operating expenses, close classes or lay off teachers to make up the shortfall if the board elects not to use the health-insurance refund.

“We are trying very hard to figure out where we go next,” he said.

But several trustees said they would not support using the district’s cash reserves because it would further threaten the fiscal viability of the district.

Trustee Karen M. Boone said she would rather consider lowering the salaries of college professors. “If they’re not open to negotiations, then let’s talk layoffs,” she said.

Marsee said the district was counting on the health-insurance refund to pay for more than $1 million in unfunded projects, including nearly $800,000 in benefit payments to teachers and a $128,245 payment on a Moorpark College parking lot.

Board President Allan W. Jacobs said staff members should come back next month with a more specific list of potential cuts, and that trustees should be ready to act on them.

“I’d like to see us do more than the $800,000 (in cuts), because it looks like we have other liabilities,” Jacobs said.