Community colleges get state funding, BC3 still loses money
Butler County Community College administrators formulated a backup plan in case state money for community colleges was not released until as late as spring, but the legislative stalemate keeping the money back ended earlier than anticipated.
Jim Hrabosky, vice president for administration and finance at BC3, said the college received about $4.5 million from the state Department of Education Wednesday, Dec. 20, following the passage of fiscal code legislation. The sum represents delayed quarterly allocations from August and December, Hrabosky said.
BC3 president Nick Neupauer said the 2024 state budget allocated $260 million to community colleges in the state, a 2% increase over the previous year. The money is usually distributed to community colleges in quarterly payments, and the check before the most recent release went out in June. Neupauer said in early December that the two quarterly payments the college just received would probably not be delivered on time because of the delay in lawmakers passing fiscal code.
Pennsylvania legislators sent the final budget legislation bills to the governor’s desk Dec. 13, which ended a monthslong impasse between Democrats and Republicans.
While measures BC3 administrators planned during the impasse for alternative funding are no longer needed, the college will have lost between $40,000 and $50,000 in income interest since August, Hrabosky said.
