The Jamestown Community College Board of Trustees has approved its 2025-26 budget.

“Thank you so much for all of those, all of you who have been involved with this for a long time,” Chairman Mark Ward said. “I think it’s a good budget.”

The $33,040,734 spending plan does come with a $160 per year tuition increase.

Interim Vice President of Finance and Operations Kathleen Dennison said the budget is based on 2,200 full-time equivalent students for tuition and fees, and 280 occupied beds for residence hall revenues.

Dennison noted that the tentative spending plan does not reflect any potential changes in federal policies or executive orders.

Dennison added that officials said the increase was held to $160 recognizing that students and their families may still be struggling financially because of inflation and post-pandemic impacts.

Dennison added that the College Connections program will see a change where JCC will begin to charge participating school districts for the program.

At the beginning of the 2025-26 school school year, JCC will be charging 11 percent of the regular rate for credit hour, and Dennison said for the 2026-27 school year the rate will increase to 33 percent.

According to sunyjcc.com, College Connections is a collaboration between JCC and its partner school districts. The program allows students to earn concurrent high school and college credit by completing JCC courses taught in the high schools by highly qualified, JCC-trained and supported teachers.

The content, assignments, projects, and assessments in College Connections courses are consistent with those taught on the JCC campus. College Connections students work towards the same outcomes as those enrolled in on-campus courses. Students who successfully complete College Connections courses earn JCC credit, which is verified by an official transcript.

High school instructors who teach College Connections courses are reviewed, selected, and supported by JCC faculty. These instructors work with JCC faculty liaisons to ensure that their courses give students an opportunity to experiment with the academic rigor of university coursework while in high school, the site said.

Dennison also noted that Chautauqua County and Cattaraugus County contributions increase where Chautauqua is slated for a 2 percent increase and Cattaraugus is slated for a 2.2 percent increase. The college anticipates receiving $400,000 from the JCC Foundation to offset costs associated with scholarships.

The budget, Dennison said, also includes rate increases for all three unions at JCC which include the Service Association, the Professional and Supervisor Alliance, and the JCC Faculty Association, although the faculty association’s contract is not yet finalized. The increase amounts to $400,680 or 2.9%. She said much of the increase is due to the newly-ratified agreement with JCCSA. The staffing cost is increasing at about 3 percent, she said, as some positions have been eliminated, and some vacant positions have not been filled.

Deans, executive directors, vice presidents, and the president will not receive salary increases which results in a savings of $25,699, Dennison added.

JCC also did not receive any increase in state aid.

“When is that music going to stop,” Trustee Wally Huckno said. “How long can we (JCC) exist with our programs servicing students?”

JCC President Daniel DeMarte said the state would say it did give the college a bump in aid as an operation increase.

“But, it comes in the form of monies that are we’re told how they can be spent, when they can be spent, and (then we) have to report back on it. It’s almost like they (state education officials) don’t trust that we know how to spend the money and what our own priorities are,” DeMarte said.

DeMarte said previously that the budget is not where JCC would like to be, but the budget represents JCC in a better position than a year ago.