June 19, 2018 – Santa Fe College President Jackson N. Sasser offered SF employees a view of the 2018-19 proposed budget at the SF Fine Arts Hall Monday afternoon. Sasser said that the budget was designed with the focus on students and faculty needs.
The proposal lays out expenditures for the upcoming year and plans for improved facilities, primarily the Blount Center expansion in downtown Gainesville, and plans to build an Institute of Technology on the Northwest Campus. That facility would be for the college’s welding, HVAC, automotive and new industrial technology programs.
When it comes to the salary and benefits package for employees, the budget proposes increasing the minimum full-time salary to $24,960, or $12/hour. Sasser said that although he was hoping to make the minimum $15/hour, the lack of extra funding from the state combined with increased insurance costs made that an impossibility.
The proposed budget also includes funding for the completion of a salary market study for Career Service and Administrative/Professional employees at SF, as well as a one-time supplement to full-time employees who were hired before June 1, 2018.
Sasser stressed to the employees and staff members in attendance that these were only proposals in the budget and needed approval from the District Board of Trustees. The board is scheduled to decide on the budget during their meeting at 4 p.m. Tuesday, June 19, on the Northwest Campus.
The complete proposal is available on the college’s Budget and Year End webpage under SF’s Office for Finance.