CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Del Mar College is in cost savings mode, and a large part of that equates to zero increases in faculty or staff salaries.
As a brief refresher, this stems from the increased valuations of Flint Hills Resources and Valero Energy, from around one billion dollars each to just over two billion dollars each.
This equates to millions in lost tax revenue to several taxing entities.
"We are very, very concerned that we are going into a new fiscal year with the inability to provide for our facility and staff," said Carol Scott, Board of Regents President for Del Mar College.
On top of no salary increases, Del Mar will also be keeping a tighter budget on travel and professional development and utilizing strategic hiring practices.
"Reductions include no salary increases for our facility and staff. That's very unfortunate; our facility works very, very hard, and they are the lifeblood of what we do at Del Mar College. Without instructors, without our qualified facility, our students would be getting nowhere," Scott said.
But, thanks to a state funding boost of over two million dollars, the college will not have a deficit. Those funds, however, were intended to help expand programs, which will now not happen.
"But that's not what that 2.1 million dollars were intended. That 2.1 million dollars from the state was intended to grow our programs and invest in opportunities for our students," said Scott.
To help compensate the faculty and staff at Del Mar, the board did vote on a one-time payment drawn from contingency funds from 2023, equating to $1200 for full-time staff and $300 for part-time staff. Scott says these contingency funds are not typically used for this purpose but that this is a unique situation.
The board is set to approve the budget later this month.
