Trustees give nod to no-frills budget

July 26, 2011

Consider it the “it could have been worse” budget.

Despite millions of dollars in lost state revenue, Howard College officials are proposing a budget that is balanced, maintains most current services and gives some area residents a tax break, to boot.

College trustees got their first good luck at the proposed 2011-2012 budget during a Monday morning workshop.

The bad news for Howard — and every other public college in Texas — is a marked decrease in state funding, College President Dr. Cheryl Sparks said. Over the course of the next two years, Sparks said Howard and SouthWest Collegiate Institute for the Deaf will lose $4.5 million in funding compared to previous years. And Howard has been put on notice by state officials that further cuts may be forthcoming.

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