The 2018 tentative budget is now available in Colleague and will be available at the July LLCC Board of Trustees meeting. A balanced budget was presented as required by the board.

Some things to know about this year’s budget:

• FY18 budget includes board approved increases in salary and benefits. HR is sending notifications to staff regarding current approved salary increases.
• The State of Illinois approved a budget for FY 2018, which includes an appropriation to community colleges and provides community colleges with 90 percent of the funding level that was received for FY 2015.
• Approved Budget Maintenance and Planning Strategies with funding are included in the budget and available in Colleague.
• Approved FFE, Perkins and Tech Fee appropriations will be sent out or posted when available.
• Additional adjustments may be necessary between now and the adoption of the final budget at the September board meeting.
• Budget transfers will not be processed until the final budget is approved by the board and those adjustments are made in Colleague. However, if you do not have the necessary funds in your lines to process a payment or PO, a budget transfer must still be prepared and submitted to the Budget Office. Once the transfer is received and reviewed, we will override the account and will process the transfer once the final budget is online.
• While we should always be budget conscious and only purchase what is necessary for our departments to operate, effective immediately it will no longer be required to obtain cabinet member approval in advance of making a purchase of goods or services. Please make sure you are familiar with the Budget Expenditure Approval Limits that we are returning to.
• Should there be a delay in approving a FY 2019 budget or if there were to be any mid-year reductions from the state in the FY 2018 budget, it may be necessary to revisit cabinet member pre-approvals in the future.

It is important that departments review their budgets during the year as purchases are made so that they can ensure they are still operating within budget. Directions on running Colleague general ledger reports (ACBL, GLBR and GLBS) are located in the “Useful Information” section on the budget office portal page. Please familiarize yourself with these reports as they will help tremendously in budget management. If you have any questions or problems, please feel free to contact the Finance Department.