The Legislative Analyst’s Office announced that the state’s General Fund revenues and transfers would fall $3.7 billion below the level assumed in the 2011-12 budget package passed in June, according to a fiscal analysis document released by the LAO on Nov. 16.

The LAO, California’s nonpartisan fiscal and policy adviser, further stated the revenue shortfall will translate into $2 billion of mid-year “trigger cuts” to various state programs, including K-14 funding.

On Nov. 21, the Los Rios Community College District Chancellor Brice Harris sent an e-mail to Los Rios’ faculty, reassuring his colleagues that the district has taken the necessary measures by assuming the mid-year cuts would take place and spending accordingly.

“The various reductions we made be ginning in July assumed that we would not receive additional funding,” Harris said in his e-mail. “Therefore, we do not anticipate any further reductions this year as a result of mid-year cuts.”

The district has prepared by operating under the assumption that the worst-case scenario trigger cuts were likely.

“Every year, for more than 20 years, the Los Rios District has created three budget scenarios,” said Whitney Yamamura, Cosumnes River College’s vice president for Instruction and Student Learning, in an e-mail. “The district has always operated on the worst case scenario.”

Yamamura reiterated that CRC is unlikely to make further cuts to the campus’ budget in the near future. However, the actual effects of the measures have not been without consequence.

“There have been no full-time faculty layoffs in Los Rios and it is currently not on the table to occur,” said CRC’s President of the Academic Senate Charles Braden in an e-mail. “There have, however, been a number of part-time faculty who have lost positions as sections have been cut.”

Part-time positions on campus have been reduced because CRC is offering fewer sections than last fall, meaning those offered contracts are fewer than last fall, Yamamura said.

Faculty Union President Jason Newman reiterated that further layoffs were unlikely, but other measures may be taken, depending on future budget projections.

“Faculty layoffs are not in the foreseeable future, but furloughs may become an option if major cuts take place in funding for higher education in late 2012 and 2013,” Newman said.

Though in its own way, remaining static is a reduction in how the campus would normally operate, Braden said.

“With the huge demand for our courses, we could certainly be offering more sections of just about everything at this point,” Braden said. “In normal budget years, this would have meant an increase in resources to offer more sections.”

Braden went on to say the campus is artificially keeping its enrollment low due to financial constraints.

In the past several years, CRC has experienced slightly smaller cuts, Yamamura said.

Because CRC sits right at a threshold of 10,000 Full-Time Equivalency Students (FTES), it receives $500,000 additional funding to its budget, said Braden.

Recently, the California Community College Chancellor’s Office issued a “workload reduction” which changed the threshold from 10,000 to 9,400 FTES.

If the budget situation continues to degrade, CRC may no longer be protected and required to make further section cuts, Braden said. All in all, both Braden and Yamamura state that the district has handled the budget issues considerably well.

“There is no better fiscally managed district in the state,” Yamamura said. “Los Rios has a reputation across the state as a model for fiscal prudence.”

Braden offered this tidbit of advice. “Don’t Panic. While it would be a mistake to underplay the severity of what is occuring with the state budget, right now, Los Rios is in a position where we have a plan in place and are not currently anticipating further contractions.