During their June 10 meeting, The Grand Rapids Community College board of trustees approved the financial budget for the 2024-2025 fiscal year which includes GRCC’s Rapid Project as well as President Charles Lepper’s updated contract and review. Lepper was praised for his work and his salary was raised by 4%. As the college approaches the end of the 2023-2024 fiscal year, the board approved contract agreements for the police department and renewed Meet and Confer employee compensation to properly accommodate both groups for the next year.
One of the main revenue sources for GRCC is the property taxes the college receives from homeowners in Kent County. During the meeting, the board approved its annual millage levy assessment, which certifies the college’s millage levy and informs the college’s taxing jurisdictions of the amount they are permitted.
The college is facing an issue with its annual Headlee Rollback and has seen a sudden decrease in the college’s millage levy. A year ago the college had around 1.9 mills, the original authorized amount for the college. GRCC is now at 1.6 and would continue to lose roughly $5.6 million if left unresolved.
The annual Headlee Rollback is when a government agency reduces its millage rate when the annual growth of the existing property is more than the current rate of inflation.
To set back the college’s orginal amount, the board would have to authorize a Headlee rollback vote. This vote asks taxpayers who levy the college’s tax millage to help set it back to the 1.9 through the form of a tax bill.
No decision has been officially made.
GRCC’s comprehensive budget pack was also approved by the board. With an increase in its general fund, the college is implementing a number of additional incentives for the GRCC community. Students and staff with a valid RaiderCard will be able to travel anywhere in the Grand Rapids Area when riding on a Rapid bus.
“We know the cost of attendance goes beyond tuition,” said Vice Chairperson Kathleen Bruinsma. “Cost of attendance includes transportation to get to and from class…I want to thank Dr. Lepper and team for your capable financial stewardship of our institution and for investing for student success.”
GRCC employees will also have access to a free membership to Calm, a meditation and sleep app that encourages its users to focus on their mental health.
Both will begin in the fall.
The board concluded its brief budget work session portion of the meeting and began its regular session with the introduction of GRCC’s new Title IX coordinator, Michelle Hamilton, and Vice President for People, Culture and Equity, Nygil Likely.
Chairperson Brandy Lovelady Mitchell then motioned approval to keep Bruinsma as GRCC’s representative for the Michigan Community College Association with trustee Salvador Lopez as her alternate.
GRCC General Counsel Brett Meyer asked for the board’s approval on the Police Officer Labor Council (POLC) contract to stay in line with the union’s request for pay as well as the approval for the College Employees Benefit Association (CEBA) contract to ensure employees in operations, maintenance, GRCC ePrint, and mail and shipping receiving departments receive proper benefits. Both contracts were approved along with the annual compensation for meet and confer employees, which was presented by GRCC Executive Director of Human Resources Christine Coon.
The board approved President Charles Lepper’s updated contract for another term along with a review, increasing his salary by four percent. Lepper was met with praise from both trustee Bruinsma and board treasurer Sheryl Siegel for his work over the past year and a half.
“He not only boosted the morale (of the college) and brought people together, but also is very attuned to the community as a whole,” Siegel said.
The meeting ended with a presentation by Director of Experiential Learning Michael Schavey, English Professor Sean Mackey and English department head Megan Coakley about this year’s Study Away trip to Spain and Portugal.
Led by Mackey, he described the learning experience and challenges his students faced during their six-day hike on the famous trail across the Camino de Santiago.
During this hike, students read and learned about the famous epic novel, “Don Quixote.” With several photos, he showed many of the landmarks students saw during this trip to both countries.
He concluded the presentation by announcing that the program will be traveling to Tanzania to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in 2025.
“This leads us to how life-changing these trips are,” Mackey said. “StudyAway is an amazing experience…all of the students are changed. They get to experience how it feels to get on their own hero’s journey. To see that in literature, and then to experience it for themselves is amazing.”
During the meeting, the board approved all consent items and purchases over $100,000. Here are some of the purchases:
- A purchase order of $170,000 to payment to The Rapid for bus services for students, faculty, and staff.
- A purchase order of $66,405 for Secchia Institute student kitchen, dining room, brewery & Foodology uniforms
- A purchase order of $100,000 to provide athletic team uniforms
- A purchase order of $100,000 to provide security monitoring throughout the campus
The Board of Trustees will meet again on Aug. 19 in the board conference room on the 5th floor of Raleigh J. Finkelstein Hall.
Editor’s note: This story was updated at 7 p.m. on June 18 to clarify the board has not officially decided to authorize a Headlee Rollback vote
