[LEADVILLE, Colo.] – In today’s meeting of the Colorado Mountain College Board of Trustees, the trustees heard several different scenarios of the potential impact if Amendments 60 and 61 and Proposition 101 pass in November.
Linda English, the college’s vice president of finance, responded to the trustees’ request for an explanation of how passage of the measures could specifically affect the college budget. Different possible scenarios were calculated depending on which year is determined as the basis for tax cuts.
“We don’t want to alarm anyone, but you’ve asked us to explain how these measures could affect our ability to meet the educational and training needs of our students and our communities,” said English. “It’s a very sobering picture. We could be faced with cutting the college’s budget by nearly 50 percent.”
Under the best-case scenario, potential impacts of the initiatives’ passage would include delay of maintenance and new building projects. In the medium- and worst-case scenarios, the impacts would likely include program and site closures, reduced services to students, benefit reductions for all employees and layoffs. Under the medium- and worst-case scenarios, students would also see tuition increases, possibly as much as 60 percent.
In addition, the introduction of new programs – including the potential offering of a limited number of bachelor’s degrees, for which the college is now seeking accreditation – could be delayed.
English emphasized to trustees that proposed measures the college could take to meet the substantial budget cuts are just that – proposed. Should the measures pass, college administrators would have to prioritize which specific buildings, programs and services would be affected in order to operate with as little as half the college’s current funding.
English told trustees that under the two toughest scenarios, the economic impact on communities served by the college would be substantial, as well. She estimated that as much as $11 million in wages and benefits could be lost annually.
Trustees heard these economic impacts on communities could include fewer remodeling, construction and other projects that inject funds into local economies; a reduced ability for the college to respond to requests for partnerships and other support; and fewer full-time and part-time employment opportunities for local residents.
If programs were to be cut and hours and locations of sites reduced, the trustees heard, students would have to travel farther for classes, experience fewer class and program choices and therefore need more time to complete degrees, and experience reduced quality in facilities and technology.
In June the trustees passed a resolution against the three measures. Information, news coverage and links to proponents and opponents of the ballot measures is provided on the college’s Web site.
In addition to the informational session on the ballot measures, the board took no action regarding the college’s campus in Steamboat Springs.