BLINN BOARD APPROVES 2016-17 BUDGET

  

The Blinn College Board of Trustees has approved a $107.9 million Fiscal Year 2016-17 budget during its regular meeting last (Tuesday) night, representing a 1-percent increase over the previous year.

The budget includes a 3.5 percent salary increase for staff and full-time faculty, and a $50 increase per course for part-time faculty. The increase in salary and benefits expenses will total approximately $2 million.

Other increases in operating expenses were attributable to the introduction of a new Surgical Technology Program to be located on the Blinn-Bryan campus and the expansion of the A.W. Hodde, Jr. Technical Education Center.

As Blinn positions itself for future expansion, Blinn’s cash reserves stand at $46.5 million as of May 31 – a 100 percent increase since 2010.

Tuition and fees will represent approximately $60 million, or 66 percent, of Blinn’s total revenue. The budget anticipates approximately $29 million (32 percent) in state funding and less than $1.8 million (2 percent) in tax revenue.

Blinn only collects property tax revenue in Washington County, and per state law, those funds can only be utilized on the Blinn-Brenham campus.

In other business, Dean of Institutional Research & Effectiveness Joe Baumann presented a report outlining the development of Blinn’s 2017-2020 strategic plan, which will include the College’s mission, vision, core values, goals and metrics for the upcoming planning cycle. Development of the strategic plan will begin in Fall 2016 with input from stakeholders, including faculty, staff, students and the community.

Blinn administrators plan to present the Board of Trustees a draft by the end of the calendar year for approval by February 2017. Blinn’s current strategic plan is available at: www.blinn.edu/strategic_plan.