San Diego Community College District

The San Diego Community College District’s (SDCCD) Board of Trustees has adopted a $755-million tentative budget for the 2020-21 fiscal year that continues to emphasize student access and success. The district’s tentative budget is considered a starting place as lawmakers in Sacramento continue to discuss how best to address the state’s severe fiscal challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Developing the budget for FY 2020-21 is an extremely difficult undertaking as the result of the state’s enormous deficit of $54 billion resulting from the loss of tax revenue,” said District Chancellor Constance Carroll. “However, despite the prospect of budget cuts and uncertainties, we will do our best to ensure that City, Mesa, and Miramar colleges, and Continuing Education are positioned to provide excellent educational opportunities for our students.”

The budget was developed based upon the Governor’s May Revision, which was released on May 14 and drastically changed the governor’s initial budget proposal due to the public health emergency associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Depending upon the duration and severity of the emergency and its impact on the state’s economy, the SDCCD’s tentative budget was developed in a flexible manner to allow the district to respond to future budget changes at the state level. After additional information about the state’s fiscal condition becomes available in August or September, a final adopted budget will be approved by the SDCCD Board of Trustees in September.

In spite of fiscal uncertainties, the district will continue to serve approximately 100,000 students at City, Mesa, and Miramar colleges, and San Diego Continuing Education. To address decreases in state funding, the district has implemented a hiring freeze on most positions, is reducing expenses through an early retirement program, is reducing expenditures wherever possible, and is continuing to review and improve its operations.

The tentative budget was developed through a collaborative process involving the SDCCD Board of Trustees, Chancellor Constance Carroll and the Chancellor’s Cabinet, the District Budget Planning and Development Council, the District Governance Council, and other individuals and groups representing the administration, faculty, classified professionals, and student leadership at the colleges, Continuing Education, and the District Office. The district’s new fiscal year begins July 1.

According to Bonnie Ann Dowd, Executive Vice Chancellor of Business and Technology Services, the state’s property taxes, corporate and personal income taxes and sales taxes have been significantly impacted by the “stay at home” order of March 19, 2020. “This has resulted in a decline in state revenue, which is the district’s primary revenue source,” said Dowd. “The tentative budget includes actions and plans to ensure expenses do not exceed revenue in order to maintain SDCCD’s fiscal stability.”