Los Rios board to look at bigger budget

SACRAMENTO -- The Los Rios Community College District board will consider a $304 million budget for the 2006-07 year at its meeting tonight.

The budget, a 15.6 percent increase from the previous year, includes funding to hire 70 new full-time faculty members at American River, Cosumnes River, Folsom Lake and Sacramento City colleges.

"This will be the best funding year we have seen in a long, long time," said Susie Williams, district spokeswoman. More than 70,000 students take classes at the Los Rios schools.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is expected to sign a bill that will provide an extra $6.3 million in state funds to Los Rios because of changes in the per-student funding formula.

Community college students who have weathered statewide budget cutbacks in recent years also will get some relief. Fees will drop in January to $20 from $26 a unit -- meaning $90 in savings for a typical 15-unit semester load -- about the price of a book.

Fees had been rising since fall 2003, when they shot up from $11 a unit.

The state is giving community colleges an extra $40 million to offset the lost revenue from the fee reduction.

The Los Rios meeting is at 5:30 p.m. tonight in the district's board room, 1919 Spanos Court.