BUTLER TWP — The Butler County Community College is looking at a balanced budget for the 2016-17 fiscal year, its total operating budget at $28.3 million.

Jim Hrabosky, the vice president for administration and finance, presented the 2016-17 budget to the finance committee Tuesday afternoon, projecting total revenue for the college at $28.3 million. That incoming revenue includes almost $3.8 million from the county and $16.3 million from the state, with both of those projections showing no increase from the 2015-16 budget, Hrabosky said.

Currently, the Legislature is looking at a state budget that could increase funding to the state’s 14 community colleges by $11.3 million, said Danielle Gross, the director of public affairs for the Pennsylvania Commission for Community Colleges.

“We believe that the General Assembly and the governor are working to provide a much needed increase,” she said.

“We’re hopeful (for the $11.3 million increase in funding). The funds are certainly needed for community colleges. The (state funding) increases that have taken place, we’re very grateful for them but it hasn’t quite kept pace with inflation. We understand that we’re in a difficult budget situation and any increase definitely makes a big difference for community colleges.”

Hrabosky said the college is erring on the conservative side when budgeting for next year, which is why the proposed budget does not include an increase in state funding.

“We’re uncertain (about any increases) given the events of the past few months with the state budget,” he said.

The incoming revenue is up $660,000 from this fiscal year because of an increase in student tuition and fees, he said. The increase will be $12 for each credit hour, representing both the increase in tuition and fees.

Broken down, each credit hour at BC3 costs an in-county student $141 for the 2015-16 school year. In 2016-17, that would increase to $153 per credit hour for an in-county student.

The revenue projections include an assumption that the college will see a 2 percent decrease in enrollment for the next fiscal year, giving the budget some flexibility if enrollment stays steady, Hrabosky said.

Statewide, there is a trend of decreasing enrollment in community colleges, said BC3 President Nicholas Neupauer, with colleges on the eastern side of the state seeing enrollment declines in the double digits.

Neupauer said that this year, the college had the second best education enrollment when compared to the 13 other community colleges in Pennsylvania.

On the expenses side, salaries and benefits combine to make up about 79 percent of the total budget, roughly $22.5 million. The college is projecting $260,000 in savings from retirements and unfilled positions from this fiscal year to next year.

Between one-quarter and one-third of the college’s employees take advantage of the Pennsylvania Public School Employees Retirement System, a cost that is managed more conservatively by the college’s participation in the Western Pennsylvania Schools Healthcare Consortium, Hrabosky said. That consortium, because of its large size, is able to negotiate directly with Highmark to control costs.

Because of this, the increase in PSERS costs is fairly minimal in comparison to many public K-12 schools, Hrabosky said. This fiscal year, the college pays $560,000 to PSERS, and that will increase to $670,000 in 2016-17, he said.

Board of Trustees Chairman Ray Steffler called the $110,000 increase “a blessing,” compared to what some public school districts have to navigate.

Ultimately, Steffler and other members of the finance committee expressed that they were pleased with the preliminary budget, which aimed to minimize student cost increases while maintaining the quality of a BC3 education.

“We don’t want the quality of our education to drop off,” Steffler said. “We have a reputation to uphold.”

The proposed budget will be presented to the full board during its June 15 meeting.

The college is required to pass a balanced budget by June 30.