Gov. Mike DeWine’s proposed cuts to both public and higher education funding will take a bite out of local budgets.
The Bowling Green City Schools will lose $698,447, or about 8.4 percent of its state foundation aid. That reduces per pupil funding by $234. The district had been budgeted to get $8,329,850 in foundation aid and $2,796 per pupil. The state cut represents a 2.3 percent decrease in the district’s $30.4 million budget, according to the state Office of Budget and Management.
Bowling Green State University will see its appropriation cut by $3,067,144, to $77,583,184, a 3.8 percent cut. That will be through June. That’s about 1 percent of the education and general budget for the BG and Firelands campus, said Sheri Stoll, BGSU CFO.
On Tuesday, BGSU President Rodney Rogers told Faculty Senate that the governor’s proposed reductions were somewhat less than what was anticipated, but that university officials expect much deeper cuts in the next fiscal year.
The university is also juggling an expected decline in enrollment, which has been estimated at as much as 7 percent for fall. “We just don’t know the economic impact this will have on families,” he said.
And if the university offers only online learning in the fall the decline in enrollment will be much steeper, Rogers indicated.
At this point the university is trying to make up a budget shortfall of as much as $27 million for the BG campus education and general budget.
Part of that will be made up by not filling open positions and retirements, but some employees will be laid off and others forced to take unpaid furloughs of as much as 20 days. Those are expected to be imposed with the greater impact on those on the top of the salary scale.
Owens Community College will also see a 3.8 percent cut of $1.056,712, bringing its appropriation for FY2020 to $26,729,451.
