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Blackhawk Technical College traffic center on hold

ROCK TOWNSHIP — Blackhawk Technical College will not break ground this year on a track to teach traffic safety.

The traffic safety center remains a priority, but it will have to wait as the college spends its money to help retrain hundreds of laid-off workers, according to a budget presentation to the BTC Board on Tuesday.

BTC also is looking at alternate locations for the track and related building, said BTC finance director Dan Hartstern.

BTC had been talking to Rock County about property on the north side of the Southern Wisconsin Regional Airport.

The airport property is no longer as desirable for several reasons, Hartstern said. Among them are opposition from neighbors and Federal Aviation Administration requirements.

BTC is looking at "a couple of other sites," within 2 miles of BTC's central campus. The campus is about midway between Janesville and Beloit.

Hartstern declined to identify the properties because he didn't want to upset the "soft negotiations" over those properties.

A nearby location would minimize maintenance, administration and other expenses, Hartstern said.

Another reason for the delay is the struggling local economy, Hartstern said.

Local municipalities and businesses would be prime customers for the center, but those organizations tend to cut their training budgets when the economy gets tight, Hartstern noted.

BTC still is looking for a major donor to help pay for the project, and the school is committed to finding private funding so that taxpayers don't have to shoulder the entire burden, Hartstern said.

"It's still a priority, but at this point, we are still talking to property owners, and we've narrowed it to a couple that we are having continued discussions with, but we are consciously slowing down the process," Hartstern said.

A figure of $5 million had been suggested as the cost of the track and a classroom building.

The center would provide training for local police and fire departments and private companies that employ drivers.

One of the things BTC will fund is a new, leased space at the Beloit Eclipse Center.

More than $1 million is designated for staff, equipment, improvements and lease costs at the former Beloit Mall building, Hartstern said. BTC lacked a Beloit classroom facility this school year because of last summer's flooding.

The old center was about 4,000 square feet. The new center will be 15,415 square feet with room for expansion, Hartstern said.

The Beloit center is expected to open by Aug. 1. Offerings will include phlebotomy, CPR, remedial courses and high school classes under the state's Youth Options program.

"Displaced workers" are expected to be among those using the new facility.

The Beloit center will include offices housing support services for students.

BTC taxes projected to rise

Blackhawk Technical College might increase its tax levy by 4.9 percent in the coming year as it responds to an influx of laid-off workers looking to retrain.

The BTC Board received a briefing on the budget at a meeting Tuesday. The proposed levy for 2009-10 would be $21.58 million.

According to preliminary figures, budget would include:

-- Operational costs increasing about 3.5 percent, to $30.56 million.

-- State aid increasing by 6 percent. BTC's rapid rise in enrollment will mean that state funding will be shifted away from other technical colleges to BTC.

-- Tuition and fees rising 15.6 percent if the state increases tuition by 4.5 percent, as expected.

-- Borrowing for facilities projects and equipment totaling $2.5 million.

-- Spending on new initiatives and new costs—mostly due to increased enrollments—totaling $1.74 million.

One place BTC won't be able to cut back on is instructors' salaries. The district and faculty union agreed in February on a contract that promises raises of at least 3 percent this school year and 3.25 percent in each of the following two years.

"With the state controlling the level of state aid and grants, tuition rates and material fees, the board's authority to levy property taxes is the only significant resources available to support the growing cost of services," according to a memo prepared by BTC finance director Dan Hartstern.