The Iowa Central Community College Board of Directors approved the college’s budget for fiscal year 2021-2022 on Monday evening.

The approved budget includes an $800,000 increase to the operating budget expenditures.

According to Vice President of Finances and Operations Angie Martin, that proposed increase is about 2.3% over the previous year’s budget and it reflects anticipated salary and benefit increases for staff.

The college’s unrestricted fund budget includes $36,300,000 in expenditures and $36,363,156 in funding resources.

The total expenditures for all college funds — including restricted fund, unemployment, tort liability, early retirement, equipment replacement, plant funds and bond and interest — is $71,907,296.

The estimated total funding resources for those funds is $68,946,580.

The FY2022 budget approved by the Iowa Central board includes a property tax rate of $1.15 per $1,000 of taxable value for residents of Boone, Buena Vista, Calhoun, Carroll, Cherokee, Clay, Crawford, Franklin, Greene, Hamilton, Hancock, Humboldt, Ida, Kossuth, Palo Alto, Pocahontas, Sac, Webster and Wright counties.

The budget is for the fiscal year that begins July 1 and ends June 30, 2022.

The board also approved an amendment to the 2020-2021 budget, which increases the general funds budget by $9,051,292 because of additional COVID funding and the addition of the Small Business Development Center.

This brings the 2020-2021 general funds budget to $59,922,658.

Stacy Mentzer, vice president of instruction, and Tom Beneke, vice president of enrolment management and student development, also presented to the board the spring 2021 enrollment report.

The college saw a decrease of about 5% in enrollment and in headcount this spring as compared to last spring, Mentzer told the board. That accounts for a loss of about 230 students, of which 182 were high school students.

“That’s not terribly surprising with everything that we have been through,” she said, referring to the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mentzer said the decrease in high school students enrolled through Iowa Central comes from the high schools not wanting to bring the classes into the buildings this semester.

The college also saw a decrease in enrollment through the correctional facilities’ programs due to not being allowed into the prisons during the pandemic.

“We’ve had a good year, as far as COVID is concerned, with staying healthy,” Beneke added.