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October 26, 2009

Plattsburgh State faces nearly $4 million deficit

Layoffs are inevitable, officials say

By STEPHEN BARTLETT

PLATTSBURGH — Plattsburgh State would have to cut nearly 70 positions to wipe out a multi-million-dollar budget deficit.

Or the State University of New York could increase tuition another $670 — though if history repeats itself the state of New York would simply keep that money to fill its own budget holes.

Neither of the above examples are being acted upon at this point but were used by university officials as examples to illustrate the gravity of the financial mess Plattsburgh State faces. No matter what, college officials must make tough decisions that will negatively impact the college and its students.

College getting 'smaller'
"We are going to be smaller," said Vice President for Administration John Homburger. "Hopefully, we will come out of it stronger, but that is very difficult to see right now. It hinges so much on making the right decisions."

Plattsburgh State is faced with a permanent campus deficit of roughly $3.8 million.

"It will continue to be permanent until we take something out," Homburger said.

Part of that $3.8 million would include between $795,000 and $1.8 million expected to be Plattsburgh State's share of the $90 million mid-year budget cut Gov. David Paterson has proposed to help deal with the state's current budget deficit of more than $3 billion.

"The fact is, we do not yet know how the proposed $90 million cut will translate at the campus level," said Plattsburgh State President Dr. John Ettling. "That being said, the scope of the problem we are facing is significant, and we are not trying to minimize it.

"In three weeks or a month, we hope to be able to announce a large part of a specific plan to get us from here to wherever there is."

Cost-cutting options
Homburger presented various cost-cutting measures to show how much money is needed to fill the budget gap, though he stressed they were only examples used to illustrate how significant the deficit is.

One scenario would eliminate 66 positions that are paid an average of $54,000 each annually. Cutting positions wouldn't be entirely through layoffs and could come in the form of retirements and keeping positions vacant.

Approximately 82 percent of Plattsburgh State's $54 million budget is salaries.

"In terms of permanent cuts to our budget, we are considering a wide range of options to help meet the projected deficit," Ettling said. "Job cuts must, by necessity, be one of those options since the majority of our operating budget is made up of salaries and benefits. We will not be able to escape this budget crunch without losing positions.

"However, job cuts alone will not get us out of this situation, and we will tackle this problem with a combination of cuts to positions, programs and services."

Another scenario that could help erase the deficit would be to raise tuition $670, though that is not something Plattsburgh State can do unilaterally and might not mean extra funds for the university anyway.

SUNY increased tuition by $620 in the spring 2009 and New York state kept 90 percent of the funds generated from that hike, leaving the campus the remaining 10 percent. This year, the state will keep 80 percent of that tuition hike, with Plattsburgh State getting 20 percent, while the intent is the university would keep 30 percent for the 2010-2011 budget.

"It appears Gov. Paterson is keeping the tuition increase again, and even if he doesn't, it could be taken some other way," Homburger said.

Other examples tossed around included reducing campus services and student aid.

Faculty members at the meeting suggested the college borrow the money, reduce salaries across the board and more. An across-the-board reduction of salaries would require a massive effort, and unions would have to be on board. The faculty union is the only one restricted to SUNY, while other employees belong to unions spread across the state, making such an effort even more difficult.

"It's all out there, and it creates a whole bunch of uncertainties," Homburger said. "That is why we tend to be conservative with what we know."

The SUNY Board of Trustees meets Nov. 17, after which Plattsburgh State should have a better idea of how the $90 million cut would be distributed across campuses.

"We know SUNY has to be part of assisting the state and managing this deficit," Homburger said. "We are just not getting very much clarity from the governor's office as to how much and how fast we have to reduce our operations.

"We are not just fiddling while Rome burns," said Ettling. "We are taking this seriously and working on it."

E-mail Stephen Bartlett at: sbartlett@pressrepublican.com

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