Technology Center may lose state funds
|
But while the need for such programs has never been greater, some of them may soon be eliminated if state lawmakers pass a no-new-taxes budget, warns Technology Center director Dr. Abraham Pallas.
If the Downsizing Ongoing Government Services (DOGS) budget passes, Pallas said, the center will lose 10 percent of its state funding, or $100,000.
“We’ve been looking at where we can economize, but there’s a reasonable chance we would have to cut positions including some faculty,” said Pallas. “I hope we don’t have to cut programs – not in this economy – because our mission is to provide job training for people.”
Already, officials at the Technology Center have started looking at every option to cut costs in an effort to minimize the effects of the cuts if and when they come. Spending has been reduced, no new instructors have been hired, no new programs have been instituted and current programs aren’t being expanded.
In the event of cuts, “We do have reserve funds which we can use, but just like the state we can’t depend on them forever,” said Pallas, who noted he had to spend $10,000 in reserve money on a new roof for the school this year.
On Monday, Pallas took part in a meeting of the Tennessee Board of Regents, the governing body of all of the state’s higher education institutions, except those which are part of the UT system. As expected, tax reform and the impact of proposed higher education cuts in the DOGS budget were the main topics.
Overall, Board of Regents institutions, which are represented locally by the Technology Center, Motlow State Community College and Tennessee Tech, stand to lose a combined $66 million.
Pallas said he believes it’s a good possibility, should the DOGS budget pass, the Board of Regents will have no choice but to raise tuition costs a minimum of 10 percent. Even if instituted, however, the tuition increase would cover less than 25 percent of the projected cuts.
Before adjourning Monday, the Board of Regents passed a resolution “strongly supporting the restructuring of Tennessee’s tax system in order to create a larger and more stable source of funding needed to assure that current and future Tennesseans can achieve their life goals through education.”