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The Appropriations Bill has been forwarded to the Governor for approval/veto.

The college will see a 9.1% reduction in operational/program funding from the prior year. Last year the college received roughly $77million in funding from the state this year that number is around $70 million or a $7million reduction.

In addition the colleges PECO allocation which is used for renovations, remodeling or site improvements has been reduced significantly. Last year the college received $12.3 million in monies this year the college will receive just $2.3 million for renovation and repair or a reduction of $10 million. As we continue to sort through the details of the budget or as things change we will keep you updated.

Florida Retirement System Update

This is an update to the email that was sent on May 2nd in regards to revisions to the Florida system in Senate Bill 2100 that has been sent to the Governor for approval. In summary fashion.

SB 2100 Summary - Revisions to Florida Retirement System

• All employees in FRS participating agencies will contribute 3% of their gross salary, pre-tax, toward their retirement.

Defined Benefit Plan

• Continues as currently offered with a new title "Pension Plan"
• Elected officials and senior management hired on or after July 1, 2011 are not eligible and must enroll in the Investment Plan
• New hires still choose plan when hired. One-time plan switch still available.

Defined Contribution Plan:

• Continues as currently offered for all employees with new title the "Investment Plan"

Health Insurance Subsidy (H.I.S.)

• No changes, continues as currently offered

Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA)

• No more COLA credits earned effective July 1, 2011
• Current employees retain all COLA credits up to June 30, 2011
• COLA tied to availability of funds after June 30, 2016 as determined by Legislature
• No impact on current retirees or DROP participants

DROP

• Continues DROP
• Reduces interest paid on DROP accounts to 1.3% plus cost of living annually for new participants entering July 1, 2011

Community College Optional Retirement Plan (CCORP)

• Continues as currently available with employee contribution of 3% required

Pension Plan Retirement Accrual Rates (no changes):

• Regular 1.6%; Senior Mgmt 2.0%; Special Risk and Elected 3.0%; Judicial 3.3%

Average Final Calculation (Pension Plan participants):

• High 8 years for new hires beginning July 1, 2011

Vesting:

• Pension Plan - Eight years creditable service for new hires beginning July 1, 2011
• Investment Plan effective July 1, 2011
• 100% immediately in Employee contributions
• After 1 yr of employment for Employer contributions.

Pension Plan payout

• 100% of Employee contribution three months after separation
• No interest or earnings

Investment Plan Payout:

• Employer Contribution Payout after:
• 1yr = 20%;
• 2yrs = 40%;
• 3yrs = 60%;
• 4yrs = 80%;
• 5yrs = 100%
• Employee contribution payout = 100% immediately including earnings

Pension Plan Retirement eligibility (new hires on or after July 1, 2011):

• 65 years of age and 8 years of service
• 33 years of service at any age

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SENATE BILL 2100 - RETIREMENT UPDATE

The Legislative Conference Committee on Florida Retirement System Reforms met late week on Thursday and Friday. On Thursday, the Senate made an offer to the House resolving their respective differences. Our best understanding in summary fashion of that offer is as follows:

Defined Benefit Plan

• Continues as currently offered with a new title "Pension Plan"
• Elected officials and senior management hired on or after July 1, 2011 are not eligible and must enroll in the Investment Plan

Defined Contribution Plan:

• Continues as currently offered for all employees now known as the "Investment Plan"

Health Insurance Subsidy (H.I.S.)

• No changes, continues as currently offered

Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA)

• No COLA credits earned effective July 1, 2011
• Current employees retain all COLA credits up to June 30, 2011
• COLA tied to availability of funds after June 30, 2016 as determined by Legislature
• No impact on current retirees or DROP participants

DROP

• Continues DROP
• Reduces interest paid on DROP accounts to 1.3% plus cost of living annually for new participants entering July 1, 2011

Community College Optional Retirement Plan (CCORP)

• Continues as currently available with employee contribution

Pension Plan Retirement Accrual Rates (no changes):

• Regular 1.6%; Senior management 2.0%; Special Risk and Elected 3.0%; Judicial 3.3%

Average Final Calculation (Pension Plan participants):

• High 8 years for new hires beginning July 1, 2011

Vesting:

• Pension Plan - Eight years creditable service for new hires beginning July 1, 2011
• Investment Plan - 100% after 3 months of creditable service for new hires beginning July 1, 2011

All employees in FRS participating agencies will contribute 3% of their gross salary, pre-tax, toward their retirement.

Investment Plan Payout:

• Employer Contribution Payout after: 1yr = 20%; 2yrs = 40%; 3yrs = 60%; 4yrs = 80%; 5yrs = 100%
• Employee contribution payout = 100% after 3 months employment
• Earnings - No earnings (interest) paid out prior to 100% vestment (after 5yrs).

Pension Plan Retirement eligibility (new hires on or after July 1, 2011):

• 65 years of age and 8 years of service
• 33 years of service at any age

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This week the Board of Trustees met and we provided them with another overview of the budget situation as it stands for Broward College in light of the legislative situation in Tallahassee.

The legislature is in the final stages of preparing the appropriations bill that will hopefully soon be presented to the governor. Estimated figures and information provided to us by the Department of Education is that our CCPF funding will be reduced by approximately 10 percent or approximately $7.1 million. That is on top of the elimination of Federal stimulus monies of $5.8 million. That's a total reduction of almost $13 million dollars from last year. Last year we budgeted $77 million in CCPF, lottery and stimulus dollars and this year we are budgeting $64 million -- a 17 percent reduction.

In addition, PECO funding dollars, which are used for renovation and remodeling of buildings and to construct new buildings, has essentially dried up and the forecast for the next few years continues to be weak. So not only is our funding per FTE from the state decreasing, we are now having to address our capital needs from our operational dollars because of the reduction in PECO appropriations.

The college will now be entering its fourth straight year of cuts in funding. Based on the aforementioned estimates, we will have absorbed about $30 million in cuts over four years while growing our enrollments by approximately 35 percent for the same time frame. Our growth coupled with the amount of cuts in state funding over four years equates to a 47 percent reduction in funding per FTE for that same time period. Our current funding levels are similar to what they were in 1982.

The good news is that four years ago tough decisions were made and conservative budget practices were implemented, which have allowed the college to avoid some of the grim realities that other colleges and governmental agencies now have to face such as layoffs, furloughs, reduction of programs and services to students and the community, etc.

In building the budget for this year, we were conservative and we have continued to look at our operations for better efficiencies, but as conservative and focused as we are, for us to continue to maintain open access and offer success opportunities to our students and community, we need to offset the continued reductions in state funding with a tuition increase.

With that in mind, we went before our Board and ask for an 8 percent tuition increase starting for the fall term, subject to what is put forth in the appropriations bill and approved by the governor.

We have surveyed some of our neighboring colleges such as Miami Dade and Palm Beach State College, and they all plan on implementing the maximum tuition increase allowed by the legislature, which is estimated to be somewhere around 8 to 10 percent; however, President Armstrong made the decision that we did not want to move forward with the maximum increase.

It was a difficult decision for our Trustees, but they did approve the tuition increase and we will now monitor the final weeks of the legislative session to see if there are any changes to this issue or to our budget plan prior to the end of the fiscal year.

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The legislative session continues to progress as meetings take place and bills make their way through the approval processes. As indicated in my previous communication, updates on changes to bills can be found at; https://stage.facc.org/images/facc/Retirement_Issues%205%20_2_.pdf

I recently began to provide legislative and budget updates on each of the campuses. Your input and participation is very helpful. At the following link, you will find several slides that I am sharing at the update forums that highlight changes in our funding levels during the past several years;

Click here to view The Florida College System Budget

Click here to view The Budgeted Growth vs State Funding Graph

The following are the upcoming dates for the budget updates presented by the Jayson Iroff, our Interim VP of Finance designed to provide an overview of the budget process at the college and how the budget figures coming from Tallahassee will impact the institution.

• North Campus, Friday, April 29, 2011 from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m., 46/152 Student Services
• South Campus, Wednesday, April 27 from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m., 81/Auditorium - Library

AFC (formerly FACC) has coordinated Legislative Update Meetings for each campus. Please see the list of dates below for each campus.

• South Campus, Tuesday, May 3rd, 2011 from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Southern Breezes Cafe. Refreshments Provided
• North Campus, Thursday, May 12th, 2011 from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. 46/152

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Remember you can track legislative bills by visiting:

• AFC/FACC (Association of Florida Colleges/formerly FACC) http://www.facc.org/images/facc/Perception/Perceptions%206%20-%202011.pdf
• Senate: http://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2011/7094
• House: http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Bills/billsdetail.aspx?BillId=46896&SessionId=66

Finally the media are regularly writing articles about the bills moving through the legislative process. Below are several recent articles about the pension plan discussion:

• http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2011/apr/19/fgcu-grapples-budget-woes-considers-tuition-increa/
• http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/gubernatorial/today-in-tallahassee-elections-growth-redistricting/1164695

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Florida's legislators continue to be very busy as the legislative session continues to progress. As indicated in my previous communication, updates on changes to bills can be found at; https://stage.facc.org/images/facc/Retirement_Issues%205%20_2_.pdf

We would like to thank Senator Nan Rich for the time she took out of her schedule to put forth a Florida Senate Resolution. We would also like to thank Representative Ari Porth for time out of his schedule to put forth the Florida House Resolution. The Senate Resolution was read on Wednesday, April 6, 2011 on the Gallery floor and it recognized students, faculty, and staff, Board of trustees and alumni of Broward College as we celebrate 50 years of outstanding education. To view the Senate resolution in full click here; http://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2011/194

There are also a series of campus wide budget updates presented by the Jayson Iroff, our Interim VP of Finance designed to provide an overview of the budget process at the college and how the budget figures coming from Tallahassee will impact the institution.

• Central Campus, Monday, April 18, 2011 from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m., 17/425 Library
• North Campus, Friday, April 22, 2011 from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m., 46/152 Student Services
• South Campus, Wednesday, April 27 from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m., 81/Auditorium - Library

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As indicated in President Armstrong's legislative update yesterday, we will regularly share information surrounding the key items of discussion taken up by the Florida Legislature.

One of these important issues is the state's pension programs and how they are funded. As President Armstrong mentioned yesterday, it is not clear what the final outcome will be, but both the House and Senate are proposing that employees who participate in the state's retirement plans contribute a percentage of the funds to the $125 billion Florida Retirement System.

Both the Senate and the House are proposing that every employee would begin to contribute three percent of their salary to the retirement plan; however, there will likely be changes in these proposals as the legislative session continues.

If you would like to track these bills, or any others, there are links to several information sources below where you can login and read the bills and keep up with their movement through the legislative process:

• AFC/FACC (Association of Florida Colleges/formerly FACC) is tracking daily the changes in the Florida Retirement System and pension issues and other legislative issues as well. Their web site, which is available to everyone, is: http://www.facc.org/facc/Retirement_Information_-_2010_Legislative_Session.asp?SnID=1359055355

To read specific legislation and staff analysis of the impact of these bills, as well as to sign up for tracking alerts for the bills, you can visit the following sites (Senate bill 7094 is the bill number for the retirement system changes, it was adopted last week by the budget committee as well as Senate bill 2100):

• Senate: http://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2011/7094

• House:http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Bills/billsdetail.aspx?BillId=46896&SessionId=66

Also, the media are regularly writing articles about the bills moving through the legislative process. Below are several recent articles about the pension plan discussion:

• http://www.news-press.com/article/20110404/NEWS01/104040339/1002/Pension-program-faces-change

• http://floridacapitalnews.com/article/20110401/CAPITOLNEWS/104010321

Finally, a weekly legislative update will be posted here on the college's government relations webpage.