Henry Ford Community College to Ask Voters for Millage Increase

Voters in Dearborn may be asked to decide on a millage increase for Henry Ford Community College this November. The college’s board of trustees began preliminary discussions on a ballot proposal at its meeting on Monday.

"In recent years, all sources of revenue at HFCC have declined significantly. As property values declined, property tax revenue declined as well," president Stan Jensen said in a presentation to the board.

According to Jensen, the college receives approximately $4.5 million less each year than it did in 2008.

State aid from Lansing is down as well, he said, and HFCC receives $1.5 million less than in 2008. In addition, enrollment continues to drop at the college. According to Vice President Marge Swan, enrollment was down about 25 percent for the spring semester.

"In the face of all these challenges, HFCC has taken strong actions to reduce costs and work to align expenditures with revenues," Jensen said.

In May, the college revealed that it is facing a $16.6 million budget shortfall for the 2013-2014 academic year. The college has been able to cut that number to approximately $6.5 million through labor contract negotiations, new revenue, and tighter departmental budgets.

Jensen said programs will also be reviewed to determine which should be downsized or eliminated, and departments will be consolidated to reduce costs.

"Throughout the process to reduce costs, the focus has remained on our core mission of teaching and learning, and on student success," Jensen said. "However, the reductions that would be necessary would cut into core programs and services for students and impact economic development for the community."

For example, Jensen said HFCC has a robust nursing, IT, and manufacturing program, and students who want to transfer to a four-year university look to HFCC for affordable core classes.

"Unless the revenue picture improves, fundamental programs to students and the community are at risk," he said.

Currently HFCC receives financial support from taxpayers based on a millage levy. The current levy is divided into two parts. The first is a 2.5 mill levy that is renewable every 10 years. The second half mill (.5 mills) is renewable every five years. The two millages combined provide approximately $10 million to the college annually. Both millages expire in December 2014.

The November ballot proposal will renew the existing levies and request an additional mill, for a total of four mills for a period of 10 years.

According to Jensen, the additional mill will provide roughly $3.3 million, which will help replace the $4.5 million in unrecovered property tax revenue from recent years.

For a home with a $100,000 taxable value, the millage would result in an increase of $100 each year.

"Henry Ford Community College continues to be a gateway to an excellent and affordable education for our students that leads to a better future and a better life," Jensen said.

The board has until August to submit ballot language to Wayne County for inclusion on the November ballot. It has not taken any action on the proposed ballot question.

To raise more revenue, the college is exploring a possible $5 per credit-hour increase in tuition, an increase in contact hour fees for classes that have more classroom time then they are billed for, and a reduction in the uncollectible tuition and fees from students. These steps are projected to raise the revenue of the college by $4.9 million.