Flathead Valley Community College trustees on Monday passed the first reading of the fiscal 2012 budget and heard a report that showed summer enrollment is down 15 percent.

Brad Eldredge, executive director of institutional research, assessment and planning, said he looked what’s driving the decrease and found many students who were studying with money from the Trade Assistance Act have graduated.

According to Eldredge, these displaced workers made up 20 percent of last summer’s enrollment. The number of students with trade assistance support dropped from 147 in 2010 to 59 this summer.

He said that hasn’t been as great a factor with fall semester registration.

“Last time I checked, admission is keeping pace with last fall,” he said.

Chuck Jensen, vice president of administration and finance, presented the proposed 2012 budget including $16.3 million for the general fund (including scholarship dollars) at the Kalispell campus. The budget also includes $865,000 for continuing education, the noncredit side of the college.

The proposal reflects a 5 percent increase over the fiscal year 2011 budget of $15.6 million. College officials base their budget requests on conservative estimates of enrollment.

“Right now, we’re projecting a very modest decrease in FTE,” he said.

Full Time Equivalent is an enrolled unit of 15 credits per semester or 30 units per year that equates to courses taken by one full-time student. It provides the basis for distributing state education money.

Jensen prepared a summary that included a chart showing budget trends since 2008. The college’s total budget grew from $11.3 million that year to the $16.4 million proposed for 2012.

The trend showed budget growth tracking with enrollment surges and an average of about 70 percent of the budget going for salaries and benefits.

On the revenue side of the budget, Jensen projects the college will receive $6.1 million in tuition, $7.2 million in state appropriations and $3.3 million in local appropriations. The greatest increase was in state dollars with small increases projected for tuition and local revenue.

“The state appropriation is up because of FTE growth,” Jensen said. “The local appropriation shows a slight increase due to the projected increase in mill value.”

Jensen said the college won’t know the exact value of the mill until August. In fiscal 2011, the value of a mill was $222,786 with $229,500 expected in fiscal 2012.

A final graph comparing full-time resident student tuition and fees per semester with two-year institutions and lower divisions of four-year colleges showed Flathead Valley Community College in the middle range at $1,828 for in-district students.

A final page of Jensen’s summary showed revenues and expenditures of continuing education, administrative services and academic non-general fund budgets.

Revenues and expenditures were equal in the continuing education budget but varied in some of the line items of the other areas. The only line item with more expenditures than revenues was the early childhood center with income of $395,000 and expenses of $425,000. Areas with more income — creating reserves — included the bookstore, the coffee cart and some building and equipment fee categories.

Trustees held a public hearing with no comments, then approved the first reading. If the second reading passes at the July 25 trustee meeting, the budget goes before the Board of Regents for approval.

Reporter Candace Chase may be reached at 758-4436 or by e-mail at cchase@dailyinterlake.com .