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Calbright board approves up to $200,000 for legal support and a $600,000 budget transfer; CFO reports healthy year‑end forecast
Summary
Trustees approved up to $200,000 in additional legal expenditures for labor and collective bargaining support and a staff‑recommended budget transfer of about $600,000 between expenditure classifications; CFO Ed Lee reported a Q3 forecast projecting ~$40.2M in expenditures against an adopted $43.2M budget and a combined fund balance of about $30.2M.
The Calbright Board of Trustees approved two finance items May 20: an increase in authorized expenditures for outside legal support not to exceed $200,000, and an unrestricted budget transfer recommended at roughly $600,000 to realign spending with actuals and forecasted instructional support demand.
CFO Ed Lee said the college had exhausted approved legal‑service expenditures while needing continued support related to the reduction‑in‑force process and collective bargaining. Staff recommended "additional expenditures not to exceed $200 thousand for remainder of current fiscal year and next fiscal year, 26‑27." Trustees asked why the board was approving expenditures before adoption of next year’s tentative budget; Lee noted the board has historically approved multi‑year contracts and that amounts would be reflected in the tentative budget to be presented next month.
On the budget transfer (item 4.4), staff said instructional support demand exceeded earlier hourly assumptions and the transfer would move roughly $600,000 between major expense classifications with no net change to total appropriations. Lee and President Menon described faculty engagement in Calbright’s model as meaningful but different from traditional on‑site instruction, citing activities such as grading, office hours support, assessment and course design.
In the third‑quarter financial update, CFO Lee reported the period covers July 2025–March 2026 and summarized key figures: the board‑adopted budget was $43.2 million; current forecasted expenditures were about $40.2 million; combined fund balance was roughly $30.2 million; unrestricted fund balance was forecast at about $5.9 million; and the projected reserve percentage was approximately 14.89 percent (board policy target 5 percent; Chancellor’s Office guidance ~16.7 percent).
Trustees expressed concern about reserve levels and long‑term fiscal stability. Trustee Costa and Trustee Haynes urged the board to revisit reserve policy given system volatility; the board agreed to discuss reserves in the tentative budget process.
Both finance measures were approved by roll call votes (legal support and budget transfer each recorded 13 yes, 0 no).
