Hillsborough Community College has a sound financial base and a pattern of financial stability, and possesses adequate physical resources to support the mission and scope of its programs and services. HCC's financial base, stability of the College, and our ability to provide adequate physical resources are reflected in the financial statements prepared by the College and supported in the annual audits of the College’s financial statements conducted by the Auditor General’s Office of the State of Florida for fiscal years ending June 30, 2003, 2004, and 2005 ( State of Florida Auditor General Financial Report 2002-2003; State of Florida Auditor General Financial Report 2003-2004; State of Florida Auditor General Financial Report 2004-2005). A Statement of Revenues, Expenses, and Changes in Net Assets for the Unrestricted Fund is included in HCC's audited financial statements for fiscal year 2004-2005. In addition to the auditors’ assessment of internal controls provided in the Audit Report, the College administration receives recommendations from periodic compliance and management audits by the State Auditor General. The most recent recommendations and HCC administration’s responses are provided in the Auditor General’s Report of the Operational Audit, Hillsborough Community College, for the period January 1, 2004 through December 31, 2004 and Selected Transactions through February 28, 2005.
Financial Stability
Analysis of the financial results documented in HCC's audited financial statements shows the history of the College’s financial stability:
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Fiscal Years ending June 30: |
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2002 |
2003 |
2004 |
2005 |
Total Net Assets (000's) |
$ 125,150 |
$ 130,814 |
$ 148,258 |
$ 167,971 |
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Ratio of Assets to Liabilities |
6.6 : 1 |
7.2 : 1 |
8.5 : 1 |
9.9 : 1 |
| Ratio of Current Assets to Current Liabilites |
3.5 : 1 |
2.8 : 1 |
5.2 : 1 |
6.8 : 1 |
Noncapital Financing: |
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|
|
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Total Revenues (000's) |
$ 78,007 |
$ 86,306 |
$ 90,242 |
$ 100,042 |
State Appropriations |
41,045 |
46,071 |
42,709 |
45,857 |
Student Fees |
16,205 |
15,589 |
22,452 |
24,202 |
Others |
20,757 |
24,646 |
25,081 |
29,983 |
As a public institution, the College does not utilize fee discounts. Specific fee exemptions and waivers are standard by state law and HCC District Board of Trustees policy. These exemptions and waivers are reflected in the annual College budget.
Additional documentation and measures demonstrating the HCC ’s sound financial base and stability are presented in our Compliance Narrative for Comprehensive Standard 3.10.1.
Effective Use of Financial Resources: Operating Budget
Hillsborough Community College effectively utilizes its fiscal resources to support its mission and the scope of its programs and services by a budget process that is preceded by and reflects the College’s Strategic Plan discussed in Core Requirement 2.5. The annual budget development process follows the completion of the unit action plans and/or progress reports. Beginning in January of each year, funding needs for new initiatives are identified in the unit plans for development of unit budget requests for the upcoming fiscal year. New initiatives totaling $1.8 million were funded through this process for the 2005-2006 fiscal year, including major initiatives to upgrade classroom technology and other classroom equipment.
Hillsborough Community College's annual budget is developed in accordance with the HCC Biennial Planning Process, HCC Administrative Rule (6HX-10-5.200 - Execution of the Budget) and HCC Administrative Procedure (5.200 - Developing the Annual Budgeting System). HCC Administrative Rule 6HX-10-5.200 requires that the President or designee submit the annual Budget to the Board of Trustees and establish administrative procedures to ensure the appropriate involvement of College personnel. HCC has an extensive and inclusive budget process that begins during the fall. Executive level budget managers prepare an operational budget based on projected enrollments, costs, resource needs, and expected revenues. Executive level budget managers also take part in a series of presentations that identify new initiatives for which additional budget funding is requested (June 2005 Budget Workshop Document). All executive level budget managers attend the presentations to ensure full understanding of the scope of the initiatives and how they support the College’s mission and strategic plan. Following the presentations, the President’s Cabinet assesses the expenditure requests and projected revenue.
As the budget process develops, major issues are presented to the Board of Trustees during budget workshops held in April and June (June 2005 Budget Workshop Document). Upon final approval by the Board (Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes, June 2005), the College submits the Budget to the State Department of Education (DOE) (HCC 2002-2003 Budget, 2003-2004 Budget, 2004-2005 Budget, and 2005-2006 Budget). The DOE checks and approves the Budget for conformity to State law, DOE rules, and State Board of Community Colleges guidelines (Florida Administrative Rules, Chapter 6A-14.0716).
Effective Use of Financial Resources: Capital Budget
Although reached through a separate development process from the Operating Budget, HCC's Capital Budget process supports the College’s strategic plan to ensure that physical resources are adequate to support the College’s mission and the scope of its programs and services.
A five-year comparison of existing facilities to projected enrollment and program and services needs, entitled Educational Plant Survey (EPS) , and the College Master Plans (Brandon, Dale Mabry, Plant City; please see note below in Supporting Documentation) provide the input for HCC's annually updated Capital Improvement Program (CIP) (HCC Capital Improvement Program, 2006-07 through 2010-11). In the process for preparation of the EPS, facilities needed to support the five-year projections of enrollments in existing and proposed academic programs are calculated based on guidelines provided by the State Requirements for Educational Facilities (SREF) (See 3.10.7) and compared to existing program spaces. Working with College academic and administrative input, recommendations for construction or remodeling to mitigate the five-year projected excesses and deficits of facilities spaces are developed. The EPS recommendations are considered by HCC's academic and administrative leadership in formulating priorities for the CIP. The facilities planning process is further described in the Compliance Narrative for Comprehensive Standard 3.10.7.
The primary source of funding for the CIP is State appropriation, however this funding is supplemented by local sources including private donations, the Capital Outlay and Debt Service fees and bond proceeds there from, and the student Capital Improvement Fee. The HCC Board of Trustees was recently authorized by the State to use the student Capital Improvement Fee as security for bond issues for facilities projects, providing another major source of funding to fill the College’s facilities resource needs.
From this budgeting process and these funding sources, the College currently has almost $45 million in construction, renovation and remodeling projects nearing completion, recently initiated, or in the planning stages. These include academic and student support additions on the Brandon and Plant City campuses, major renovation and remodeling of academic, student, and college support spaces at the Ybor City and Plant City campuses, and a major new center for the southern portion of the College district to be known as the HCC South Shore Center. The projects currently underway will add over 11% to existing space while approximately 9% of existing spaces are undergoing major renovation and remodeling.
The State of Florida provides for a mechanism to request increases in appropriations for facilities construction from changes in economic conditions, such as the cost increases that have come with recent hurricane recovery operations in the State. The State Department of Education is currently preparing such a request for the 2006 Legislative session by a current survey of colleges, universities and school systems.
Ongoing maintenance of HCC facilities and provisions for a safe physical environment are provided through College policies and procedures that adhere to State and Federal codes and standards. These policies and procedures are further described in the Compliance Narratives for Comprehensive Standards 3.10.6 and 3.10.7.
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