SUNY Ulster presents 2025–26 budget, seeks 3% county maintenance‑of‑effort increase

SUNY Ulster County Community College presented its proposed 2025–26 budget to the Ulster County committee on May 6, asking the county to increase its maintenance‑of‑effort (MOE) support by 3 percent, or roughly $213,000, while detailing enrollment gains, new hires and a projected fund deficit.

The college’s presenter, Michael, said, “we are budgeting 16 67 students this is up from last budget which was 15 47 so this represents about 120 additional FTEs,” and explained the proposal includes 13 new positions, five of them faculty, and contractual bargaining‑unit increases that raise personnel costs, which account for roughly 78 percent of the college’s budget.

The nut graf: the budget presentation foregrounded enrollment growth as the primary revenue driver and asked Ulster County to raise its contribution while warning the college still projects a $482,000 fund deficit for the year; staff described a mix of revenue strategies including a proposed modest tuition increase and a pilot of a SNAP E&T workforce program.

Committee members pressed on several practical points. One legislator asked whether the college has a contingency or “financial resilience” plan should major federal funding sources be cut. Michael said federal revenue accounts for about $5,000,000 in the college’s most recent year—around 16.67 percent of the budget—and that contingency planning has been done by department for several funding scenarios, though some federal funding mechanisms would be particularly difficult to replace.

Members also discussed dual‑enrollment and partnerships with the county’s nine school districts. A legislator identified challenges in satisfying New York State Department of Education faculty credential rules for high‑school instructors and urged expanded outreach to rural parts of the county; presenters said conversations with districts are ongoing and flagged capacity constraints in allied‑health and manufacturing programs that need cohorts and faculty additions to expand.

The presentation broke down major revenue and expense lines: the college projects roughly $8,500,000 in tuition revenue (up from $7.8 million), proposes a $100 per semester ($8/credit) tuition increase, budgets a $300,000 vacancy variance to reflect hiring difficulty, and noted benefits costs overall would decline modestly due to a 0 percent renewal for the college’s primary NYSHIP Empire plan. The college also described a pilot for SNAP E&T and a new U‑stack bookstore model intended to boost “other revenue.”

On county support, Michael said the college pays rent to the county for a facility (KCSU), which appears on the college’s budget but largely flows back to the county; he also noted the state can reimburse a portion of rent through a separate allocation that was 42 percent the prior year but is not yet finalized for the coming year.

There was no formal vote this meeting; the presentation will be taken under further review by county executive staff and incorporated into the county budget process. County staff said they will request further details from the college before finalizing any recommendation on the MOE increase.

Ending: presenters said they will continue to refine projections and pursue grants and alternative revenue streams; the committee asked the college and county staff to follow up with additional detail on contingency plans, the SNAP E&T pilot and the proposed faculty hires.