KALAMAZOO, MI -- As it prepares for a new budget year, Kalamazoo Valley Community College officials expect a decrease in tuition revenue, despite higher cost for students, because of a drop in college enrollment.

The college’s Board of Trustees approved the 2019-2020 budget Tuesday, May 14, after a presentation on the upcoming year’s financial figures.

According to the budget, revenues from property tax and state aid have increased, but the amount coming from tuition and fees has decreased. Vice President of Business and Finance Brian Lueth said an expected decrease in KVCC’s enrollment accounted for that change.

The college estimates about a 3% drop in the number of credit hours taken between the current year and the 2019-2020 school year. The budget reflects about $900,000 less revenue from tuition and fee payments.

Tuition revenue is calculated as part of the budget process based on the expected number of credit hours to be delivered by the college, said Mike Collins, vice president for college and student relations. The credit hour decreases factored into the new budget does reflect a decrease in the total number of students enrolled at the college, Collins said.

“We are hopeful our enrollment will increase,” Collins said. “But, for budgeting purposes, we are taking a conservative approach.”

About 9,000 students were enrolled in the college in fall 2018 semester, according to the college’s website.

In 2010, the school’s enrollment was about 11,200, according to Kalamazoo Gazette files. Total enrollment in the 2014 winter semester was reported as 9,887, a 13% decrease from the previous year.

Overall enrollment at KVCC has followed a downward trajectory since the 2012-13 school year, according to Michigan School Data.

The college delivered about 150,000 credit hours this year, Collins said. Administrators expect about 145,000 credit hours for 2019-2020, he said.

The board voted to increase the cost of tuition by 2.8% during a board meeting Tuesday, April 9. Tuition costs for in-district students increased to $110 per contact hour, versus the 2018-2019 costs which set tuition at $107 per contact hour.

The expected revenue from tuition and fees in 2019-2020 — $24.5 million — factors in both the increased cost per contact hour and a “slight” expected decrease in enrollment, Lueth said. The school’s 2018-19 budget predicted $25.3 million in revenue from tuition and fees.

Administrators and trustees must demonstrate “good stewardship” over the college’s resources, President Marshall Washington said in an interview with MLive after the meeting.

“We want to continue to be a place where students can come,” Washington said. “We want to be affordable, accessible.”

In a 6-0 vote, the board voted Tuesday to approve both the budget and a millage rate for the upcoming budget year. Trustee Julia Buck was absent from Tuesday’s meeting.

The millage rate stayed consistent from last year for a total of 2.8 mills for the general fund and museum, according to the budget.

The college’s general fund budget is “pretty consistent” with last year’s, Lueth said. The general fund budget lays out plans to spend $63.7 million in the upcoming school year, an increase from last year’s general fund budget of $62.6 million.

Apart from tuition, the college’s other top revenue sources include state aid and property tax receipts. Both increased from last year’s budget.

The college expects $21.3 million from property taxes and $13.2 million of state aid.

Leuth said he set the projected revenue from state aid at a level between what is laid out in Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s state budget proposal and the numbers put forward by the Michigan Senate.

Gov. Whitmer proposed a $60.2 billion budget that would increase funding to K-12 education, take less money from the School Aid Fund for higher education and implement a tax on gasoline to fund infrastructure improvements across the state.

The largest category of general fund expenditures for KVCC is salaries and benefits, totaling $44.6 million. That value reflects salary increases for both professors and staff, Lueth said. A year-long negotiation process between the college and part-time professors ended in April with a three-year contract and salary increases.