California community colleges were hit with unwelcome news when state Chancellor Jack Scott announced that the state community college system faced an unexpectedly large $149 million deficit for the 2011-12 budget.

Ramifications for the Foothill-De Anza district and De Anza College will be discussed at a budget town hall meeting held on Monday, Feb. 27 from noon to 1 p.m. in Conference Room A of the De Anza campus center.

Speakers will include De Anza President Brian Murphy and Vice President of finance and educational resources Letha Jeanpierre as well as district Vice Chancellor of business services Kevin McElroy.

Scott said that $107 million of the shortfall was due to an increase in the number of students receiving Board of Governors fee waivers while most of the rest was due to lower than expected property tax revenues.

The Foothill-De Anza district will lose $4 million as a result of the most recent cuts, according to the Community College League of California. Combined with previous cuts, the total cuts to the 2011-12 district budget stands at an estimated $15.6 million.

District Budget Director Bernata Slater said that the district had planned for some deficit in student fee and property tax revenue, but that the announced revenue was “well below the state’s original projection.” 

Murphy said the school was surprised at the size of the shortfall, but has contingency plans to cover such an event. He said De Anza will not make further cuts this year and will cover any additional revenue shortfalls with one-time dollars from a reserve fund.

In an email, Murphy wrote that the $149 million deficit is just a part of a larger phenomenon.

“The broader story is the systematic destruction of California’s historic commitment to affordable access to the finest higher education systems in the world,” Murphy wrote.

Dan Troy, Vice Chancellor for fiscal policy for the state chancellor’s office, wrote in a letter that the unexpected deficit is “unacceptable,” but at the same time warned that “there is no guarantee that the deficit will be backfilled.”