AUBURN - Cayuga Community College asked the county Legislature for a 4 percent increase in contributions during Tuesday's Ways and Means committee meeting, but some county leaders believe that since the college has money left over, it should use that first and ask for more assistance when it's really needed.

As far as having a surplus, however, CCC President Daniel Larson said that SUNY regulations require the college is supposed to have 5 to 15 percent of its operated budget in a fund balance.

The college's fiscal year begins Sept. 1, so the Legislature would need to vote any increase at its Aug. 26 meeting. The county can also choose to increase its contribution by a different amount.

Larson has asked for the 4 percent increase - $107,000 -for a number of reasons, he said.

The state did not increase its aid to the college, there is no projected growth in attendance, which impacts state aid, and at the same time, tuition has gone up 4 percent.

“The county as the sponsor has the responsibility to provide funding up to the limit that is specified by New York state law and that's 26.7 percent of the operating budget.” Larson said. “We need to ask that the county increase its allocation because they haven't done it in a couple of years now.”

The current tuition is set at $3,390 for a full-time student who is a resident of Cayuga County, up from last year's $3,254.

Cayuga Community College estimates its fund balance to be $559,041 as of Aug. 31, which is approximately 5.6 percent of its total budget.

Ways and Means Committee Chairman Francis Mitchell said Tuesday that the college is showing signs of financial life - a reported surplus when the college actually projected a deficit - and that there is no need to increase the county's portion of support, which is currently at $2,678,400. Mitchell, R-Genoa, said that CCC every year collects more money in net income than it predicts it will.

“I don't like that kind of accounting where I have to ask so many questions and figures don't appear to be comparable,” he said.

David Axton, R-Mentz, also opposes the increase because now, he does not see that CCC needs the funds.

“It's a perfect example of playing the budget game, where you put the numbers in so you don't lose them later,” he said Tuesday.

Before Axton would vote to increase funding, he said, he wants to see where the money is going. During the 2007-08 budget season, the county did not raise its contribution and the college did quite nicely, he said.

“While it's an extremely important thing to our county, we still need to see the numbers and the information. We have to scrutinize every single detail,” Axton said. “If we see all the numbers and see that it's totally justified and that there's no other way except for increasing tuition to make ends meet, then we certainly have to look at increasing our contribution.”

The county will definitely suffer as a result of the state budget cuts, said Ann Petrus, R-Brutus.

“It's not going to be an easy year for any of us,” she said. “I'll be surprised if they receive their request.”

Larson is more optimistic and believes there is a 50-50 chance of getting the requested amount because while some legislators know if they will support the increase or not, he believes there are some who are undecided.

If the Legislature rejects the increase and does not suggest an alternative amount, this would be the third year the college is getting the same amount of funding from the county. In 2005, the county provided CCC with $2,550,886 for the 2005-06 school year. In 2006, the county increased that by $127,534 to $2,678,400 for the 2006-07 school year. Last year, the Legislature rejected a proposed 5 percent increase in the county's contribution.

Daniel Schuster, D-Auburn, said he believes that the county should increase its funding for the college. Schuster said he understands where Mitchell is coming from and also realizes the county needs to be conservative with its spending, however, he said he's concerned that the burden would fall on the students and that would be unfair. Schuster will not support keeping the county contribution the same, he said.

“At this point in time, people need more than just a high school education and we need to be doing everything we can,” Schuster said. “We're only hurting future generations by not contributing to the college as much as we can afford to do.”

Legislature Chairman Roger Mills, R-Owasco, said Tuesday that just because the college is making money doesn't mean the county should not increase its funding.

“If they operated at a loss, we would gladly give them the money,” he said. “Now we're penalizing them for running a solid operation.”

Staff writer Gitana Mirochnik can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 237 or gitana.mirochnik@lee.net