Board of Regents approves budgets, parking decal increase

Editor's Note: Southeast Missouri State University's parking decal rate has been corrected below.

Southeast Missouri State University's general operating and auxiliary budgets for fiscal 2016 were approved by the board of regents Friday, as well as a fiscal 2017 capital budget request that will be sent to the Missouri Department of Higher Education.

The board also approved an increase in the cost of parking decals that will take effect this fall.

Southeast's total operating budget for fiscal 2016 is $111,427,390. It includes a 1.43 percent increase in state appropriations for 2016, which equates to a $669,042 increase for Southeast. The university also met all five of the performance funding indicators established with the Missouri Department of Higher Education, which equates to a $556,200 increase in appropriations.

It also is the first year a funding formula was designed and used to compensate institutions for increased enrollment, Southeast officials said. The equity funding provided the university an additional $112,842.

The operating budgets for auxiliary departments totals $36,573,273 million, all of which are balanced, the university said. Auxiliary budgets are self-supporting operations that do not receive state funding. They also have to generate revenue to cover their expenses.

The merit pay salary increases will be 1.5 percent for administrative/professional staff, clerical/technical/service staff, bargaining units and graduate assistant stipends. Included in the increases is a faculty base merit salary bump of 1.3125 percent.

A 0.1875 percent salary pool to fund post-professional merit increases and a 1.3125 percent increase to the overload and part-time faculty compensation levels also are in the budget.

The board also approved a capital budget request for fiscal year 2017 that will be submitted to the Missouri Department of Higher Education. With the passage of legislation that will provide funding for the renovation of the Grauel Building, Crisp Hall and Brandt Hall, the first priority in the request is the remaining campuswide deferred maintenance projects.

The renovations in the request include updating building envelopes and mechanical, electrical and HVAC systems throughout many of Southeast's oldest campus buildings. Funding also is requested for roof replacements to several buildings, replacement of deteriorating single-pane, metal-frame windows and upgrades to site elements responsible for stormwater drainage, officials said.

Included in the campuswide renovations project is maintenance to the tunnel system, which involves repair and/or replacement for various sections of the tunnels, as well as increasing safety by added lighting, hazardous material abatement and improved ventilation.

The renovation of the art building is the university's next priority, and the third priority is renovating Pacific Hall.

Increases in parking decal rates for fiscal years 2016 and 2017 also were approved by the regents. About 50 percent of the parking and transit auxiliary's revenue comes from selling parking decals, officials said.

Kathy Mangels, vice president for finance and administration, said decal rates have increased three times in the past 25 years.

Fees were increased in 1993, when the perimeter/preferred system was adopted, and in 2002, when bonds were issued for the construction of the Towers parking garage and additional surface parking spaces, Mangels said.

Decal rates were last increased in fall 2008 after the River Campus opened, which added new faculty, staff and student parking and required new shuttle routes between the main campus and River Campus.

Mangels said about 70 to 80 students are employed by the parking and transit auxiliary annually, and with an increase in minimum wage from $6.50 per hour to $7.65 per hour since the last decal rate increase, additional funding is needed or the number of students employed will be reduced.

The university also has seen a decrease in grant funding from the Federal Transit Administration to assist in the operating cost of the campus shuttle system.

Parking fine revenues have declined as the amount of parking spaces on campus has grown, Mangels said. The Department of Public Safety also has implemented more enforcement, as well as more accurately identifying offenders who regularly receive multiple violations, which has resulted in the offenders buying parking decals instead of receiving more tickets.

In the past five years, fine revenue has declined by about $200,000.

Mangels said it's the university's goal to expand the parking system and reduce the amount of tickets issued, but other revenue must be generated to fund construction and personnel.

To make up for a deficit of about $200,000, the decal rate will increase over two years. Preferred parking decal rates will rise $35 from the current $155 cost to $180 for fiscal 2016 and to $190 by fiscal 2017. The perimeter decal rate will increase from $105 to $140 by 2017, and the carpool rate will rise from $220 to $255.

Rates for evening and motorcycle/scooter parking decals will rise $20. And with the addition of student parking spaces as part of the Dobbins River Campus Center project, officials ended the $25 River Campus upgrade decal requirement.

In other business, the board combined the Student Recreation Center, intramurals and Student Aquatic Center fees, effective this fall. Officials said combining the fees will not change the costs.

"We're doing a lot of accounting to separate them, and it's really for more efficiency that we combine it into one fee," Mangels said.

The board also approved a reduction in the special course fee for Management 252 from $113.50 to $99; several Faculty Senate bills; a new Master of Arts in Teaching: Exceptional Child program; and a change of classification of instructional programs code for a bachelor of science in Hospitality Management.

klamb@semissourian.com

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