Lane Community College proposes $8M cuts, 3.1% tuition increase as faculty oppose

Lane Community College’s board approved a multiyear budget plan that administrators say will reduce spending by $8 million over three years and includes a 3.1% tuition increase to $149 per enrollment credit, a $4 hike per credit hour. The board voted to advance the FY 2026 Proposed Budget after trustees reviewed a three-year financial plan intended to restore and maintain a 10% ending fund balance per board policy.

The FY 2026 Proposed Budget packet lists FY26 totals of $113,098,576 for the primary budget presentation and shows a multi-fund table with the figures “Funds 305,094,246 284,577,707 -20,516,539.” The budget documents explicitly state an enrollment growth target of 2%, note “increase in labor costs, materials and services,” and say operational materials and services will be reduced to help balance rising personnel costs. The packet also calls for continued utilization of Bond 2020 funds, initialization of capital projects, and a plan “to reconcile with deficit within subfunds on Fund IX.”

Faculty pushed back sharply. Adrienne Mitchell, president of the Lane Community College Education Association, said, “We don’t believe any of those cuts are necessary,” and added, “Currently, all of our funding sources—state funding, property taxes and student tuition revenue—are up.” The faculty union has characterized the proposal as roughly an 8% cut to a $104 million operating budget and staged visible protests during budget discussions; faculty remain without a contract and have entered mediation.

Boardroom debate highlighted divisions within the board. An ad hoc committee that studied the proposal included Vice Chair Jerry Rust, Chair Austin Fölnagy and Trustee Zach Mulholland. Fölnagy cast the lone no vote on the plan while Rust said he was uneasy but would support the planning document, saying, “This is a planning document,” and, “This is something to give us the side rails. And, I think the hard work will be done in the budget making and budget committee and the board.” Trustees also approved a motion to include students in conversations about raising tuition and fees.

The FY 2026 materials spell out specific student fee changes pending final approval: a $14 per credit technology fee assessed to all credit students and a $27 per term transportation fee for students taking credit classes on the main campus. Students who spoke during public comment warned that cuts could harm their ability to complete degrees and certificates at a college that educates over 17,000 students annually at six locations across Lane County and online and that the institution generates more than a $675 million local economic impact supporting about 8,900 jobs.

The college posted a public notice that a supplemental budget meeting would take place in the LCC Boardroom, Building 3, 4000 E 30th Ave, Eugene, and that the supplemental budget document could be inspected or obtained on or after Feb. 23 in Building 3, Room 100 between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Administrators say the reduction plan and the FY 2026 Proposed Budget are intended to ensure long-term sustainability and meet the board’s 10% reserve policy, while faculty leaders insist the cuts are unnecessary given rising revenues. The board has scheduled additional budget discussions at its next meetings to refine the plan and the mechanics by which the estimated $8 million in reductions will produce the targeted reserve levels.