Beaufort County Community College funding took a hit Monday night, when county commissioners approved the 2016-17 budget ordinance.

In a previous budget workshop, the Board of Commissioners slashed $500,000 in funding from the community college in an effort to balance the county’s revenues and expenses for next year. The county budget allocates $2,513,126 to the college for fiscal year 2016-17, as compared to the $3,013,126 originally allocated in the 2015-16 budget. All $500,000 was taken from funds meant for construction and maintenance, which leaves the school $140,000 in capital outlay funds for the year.

It’s a decision that community college officials feel was unwarranted, as shown by BCCC employees’ and administrators’ presence during the public hearing before the budget’s approval.

Initially, college administrators were asked to cut $300,000 from their 2016-17 budget request — those cuts included a $50,000 energy audit; $15,000 for upgrading energy-efficient lighting; another $15,000 to update the electrical engineering department, which had last been upgraded 30 years ago; and $200,000 to repair existing parking lots and repaving a new one, according to BCCC Trustee Kathy Simpson. Simpson was one of three speakers representing the college during the public hearing. BCCC employees filled the benches of the Superior Courtroom in the Beaufort County Courthouse, many in their uniforms.

The cuts affect many of those employees, as a cost of living adjustment for custodian and maintenance workers was included in the additional $200,000 removed from the BCCC budget. Also removed was funding to replace a 22-year-old HVAC system and a 24-year-old elevator that has been out of compliance with N.C. Department of Labor requirements for the past two years, Simpson said.

Commissioners pointed to BCCC’s $6.5 million share of Connect NC, a bond addressing state infrastructure approved by bond referendum during the March 15 primary, as reasoning why the community college could withstand the $500,000 cut. The Connect NC funds will be used to build training facilities for the firefighting program and a driving pad for law enforcement and first responder personnel, as well as for upgrades to make the campus more handicapped-accessible.

“There are restrictions on these funds,” BCCC Trustee Jim Chesnutt said during his three minutes at the public hearing. “We cannot hide behind the bond issue in North Carolina and not do the things that are right to support the community college.”

Before the 2016-17 budget ordinance was approved by a 4-3 vote, Commissioner Ron Buzzeo made a motion to restore $130,000 for the BCCC county-paid employees’ cost of living adjustment; he made a second motion to restore the $50,000 it would take to repair the out-of-compliance elevator. Neither motion was seconded.

“If we don’t do something now to get our plans in order, we’re going to have problems next year,” Buzzeo said, referencing the absence of funding for building maintenance, especially in the schools, in the 2016-17 budget.

The approved 2016-17 budget ordinance can be found on the home page of the Beaufort County government website: www.co.beaufort.nc.us.