DECATUR - The audit on Richland Community College came back with no problems reported.

Andy Thomas of May, Cocagne and King gave a report on the audit to the college's Board of Trustees at their meeting on Tuesday. The college's net assets increased by $140,000 in 2008, with $45.9 million in total assets. Total operating revenues for.;fiscal year.;2008 were $5.58 million, down from 2007's total operating revenues of $6.9 million. Tuition and fees account for 45 percent of revenues. Expenses increased by 6.5 percent last year.

The college paid off $755,000 of a Brush College LLC installment loan last year, leaving $127,000 outstanding, and retired.;$370,000 of bond debt, but issued $2.6 million in new bonds for computer equipment and construction. Because the college controls Brush College LLC - which was formed to operate Progress City - the finances for that entity must be audited along with the college's funds, Thomas said.

The college's investments are not in danger from the economic situation in the country, Thomas said. Part of the firm's audit process involves asking the banks where college funds are held to provide proof of the safety of those funds, and the banks did that. Funds greater than the federal insurance program will cover are protected by collateral offered by the banks.

Greg Florian, vice president of finance, also gave a report on the monthly finances of the college, including the estimated tax levy for the upcoming year. In the last few years, equalized assessed valuation in Macon County has increased 4 to 5 percent annually, but this year that number is expected to be lower, he said, possibly only 2 or 3 percent. Richland's annual tax levy is about 38 cents per $100,000 of EAV, and he does not expect that to change this year.

Richland's levy can be lower in Macon County than other entities such as the public schools, he said, because Richland's district covers all or part of several counties, allowing the college to collect taxes from a wider area.

In other business, the college's construction projects are proceeding on schedule. Bids for the fitness center flooring and carpet replacement in the hallways were approved on Tuesday, with installation expected in December. The joint-use facility, a partnership with the University of Illinois Extension, is scheduled to be enclosed before winter weather, Florian said.

Trustee Dale Colee attended a meeting of the Illinois Community College Board in Chicago where he heard a presentation on wind generators. The joint-use facility, named the Center for Sustainability and Innovation, will have such a generator as part of its "green" design. The Bureau County schools, Colee said, have a wind turbine and save some $100,000 per year in power costs as a result.

"We won't save that much," Florian said of the turbine planned for the center. There isn't enough room for a large enough turbine at the center's site to generate that much power, he said, but the turbine should save the college around $20,000 a year.

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