Island socked with NCCC charge-backs

GI taxpayers foot bill for NCCC choice

by Larry Austin
Grand Island Dispatch, April 15, 2005

How’s this for a way to save the town money? Convince your neighbor’s kid not to go to community college outside the county.

The Town of Grand Island paid $359,770 in 2005 to help subsidize the education of approximately 150 town students who attended community college outside Erie County in 2004.

Erie County pays its local share of operating costs for Erie Community College from general tax revenues, aid from the state, and tuition. New York students who choose to attend a community college outside their home county also enjoy a subsidy from their county of residence.

Non-resident Students

Article 126, Section 6305, of New York State Education Law says “a county may charge back such amounts in whole or in part to the cities and towns in the county in proportion to the number of students who, on the basis of certificates of residence issued by such county, were attending each such college as non-residents.”

A charge-back fee is collected by the county from each city and town, based on how many residents of those municipalities go to school outside the county. Erie County bills the towns a charge-back on the following year’s county tax bill.

Grand Island Town Supervisor Peter McMahon estimated the town must add 51 cents per thousand to property tax bills to cover the cost.

Ironically, there is no charge to Island residents if a student attends a four-year college out of the county.

“Even high school kids,” McMahon noted. “If you’re paying your taxes on Grand Island, but if you choose to send your kids to a private high school, or even a private elementary school, the rest of the people don’t subsidize that.”

Unknown Origin

“I don’t know the origin of it,” McMahon said of the subsidy, “unless it was to broaden the opportunities for people to go to community college.”

Charge-backs are based on the local sponsor’s contribution to the college.

“It costs us less money here because of our local sponsor contribution to educate an Erie County resident than it does in Niagara County to educate a Niagara County resident,” said Randy Bowen, associate vice president for enrollment management and marketing at ECC.

Still, Erie County sends approximately $2.1 million more to Niagara County in charge-backs than it receives, leaving Erie County in a relative deficit.

According to Bowen, in the spring of 2004, 155 Grand Island students attended NCCC.

"And comparatively speaking, going to ECC during that same term, there were 128 students" from GI, he said.

Geography a Draw

Grand Islanders pay a relatively steeper price for the charge-back system than other municipalities because of the town’s geographic proximity to Niagara County Community College, located on Saunders Settlement Road in Sanborn.

Bowen said 70 percent of students in six north and northwest townships (Alden, Clarence, Amherst, Tonawanda, Grand Island, Lancaster), were taking programs at NCCC that are also offered at Erie Community College.

"So it's not even like they're going up there for a specific curriculum because we don't offer it," Bowen said.

Geographic distance is only part of the reason, said Bowen, who once worked at NCCC and noted that the city campus of ECC is closer to Grand Island than Sanborn.

“I guess I understand why people pick the closest one,” McMahon said. “We probably have a greater percentage of our college kids crossing the border.”

Consequently, the tax bite is greater on Island residents than on Erie County residents who live, for instance, in the Southtowns, where students have fewer out-of-county education options.

‘Sensible Alternative’

“It doesn’t seem like it ought to be that way,” McMahon said. He favors a plan that subsidizes those students who attend only Erie Community College, calling that a more sensible alternative. Those willing to travel outside the county line to continue their education should pay the added out-of-county costs out of their own pockets.

“If you go somewhere else, you pay it,” he said. The town’s attorneys began investigating the system with the county in hopes of determining the origin of the system.

“Frankly, with the chaos with the county, that may take a while,” McMahon said.

There is no incentive to stay at home and go to their local community college, Bowen said.

ECC through GIHS

In an effort to be more accessible to Northtown students, In February, ECC announced a partnership with Grand Island High School which allows Island students the option to take three courses at the high school: General Psychology on Tuesdays, College Composition on Wednesdays, and Computer Applications in Business on Thursdays. The courses run during the evening from 6-9:30 p.m. for college credit. Classes will be taught at GIHS by ECC faculty, and students will receive 50 percent off tuition.

A Northtown extension will make ECC more accessible to GI residents.

"The other piece is to hone in an the mission of the college, which is accessibility in offering education for our entire community," Bowen said.