The gist
LSCS’s FY 2025-26 budget includes $34.95 million in total new revenue, which comes from state appropriations, property taxes and students, among other miscellaneous sources, according to a presentation by Kristy Vienne, the college system's chief financial officer and vice chancellor for finance and administration.
A few budget priorities for FY 2025-26 include the following:
- 3% employee compensation adjustment: $9 million
- Funding for Magnolia Center: $1.9 million for FY 2025-26
- Funding for a new bachelor’s program: $321,000
- Mental health: $2 million
Since the June 5 budget workshop meeting, LSCS saw a $13 million drop in the forecasted revenue from the state as it went from $124 million to $111 million. However, LCSC Chancellor Mario Castillo said they were ahead of the game in terms of preparedness.
“Even with the $13 million loss if you will, no jobs were lost, no programs are going to have to be shut down, nothing that we represented to employees and students that would be in the budget for the next year is going to be affected,” Castillo said.
There were no changes in the estimated $244.5 million from maintenance and operations tax revenue as discussed in the June workshop meeting.
Also of note
Later this year, LSCS officials expect to propose a total tax rate of $0.1060 per $100 valuation for FY 2025-26, which is what the approved budget was based on. The proposed tax rate is lower than the FY 2024-25 tax rate, which was $0.1076 per $100 valuation.
What’s next
LSCS trustees will adopt a tax rate Oct. 2.
