§ 84758 Community College Tax Revenue

• •Every year by May 15, the Department of Finance tells the Legislature and the Chancellor’s Office how much money community colleges will get from local property taxes (not including special taxes like bond interest or timber taxes).
• •By March 15 each year, the Chancellor’s Office must tell the Department of Finance how much money they actually got from those taxes in the current year.
• •The Department of Finance then compares the estimated money (from May) with the actual money (from March) to see if there’s extra money (surplus) or not enough money (deficit).
• •They tell the Legislature if there’s a surplus or deficit so they can adjust the budget for community colleges.

Imagine your school gets money from local taxes to buy books and pay teachers. Every year, the state guesses how much money the school will get and plans the budget based on that guess.

If the school actually gets more money than guessed, there’s extra money (surplus) to spend on more books or teachers. If the school gets less money than guessed, there’s not enough money (deficit), and the state might need to give more money to cover the difference. The law makes sure the state checks this every year so schools don’t run out of money.