After years of a steadily declining budget, City College has finally returned to a period of fiscal growth.

With the passage of Proposition 30 and an increase in revenue from international and out-of-state students, the college budget is up over 3 million dollars from last year despite a five percent decrease from state funding. The additional revenue secures the immediate future of faculty and keeps the current class sections from receiving further cuts.

“This revenue allows us to open sections that might encapsulate those international students but also opens seats for the general population,” said Superintendent-President Lori Gaskin at the Feb. 11 fiscal committee meeting.

Joe Sullivan, vice president of business services, said the extra revenue from international and out-of-state students is vital to the growth of the current curriculum.

“We couldn’t have funded more classes if we didn’t have the international revenue,” said Sullivan. “We wouldn’t have had the staffing support or the instructors to open those classes and those sections because we simply wouldn’t have the money to do it.”

While the college has cut nearly 2.1 million dollars from the budget in recent years by cutting faculty, benefits for the current staff are up $1.1 million and will likely keep increasing, according to Gaskin.

The fiscal committee, along with Gaskin, expressed a concern for the rising national economy. As more jobs open up, less of the general public enrolls in community college according to the board.

“We were dealing with the peak of misery with unemployment,” said trustee Marsha Croninger. “As that number eases up there will be fewer students to come to college because jobs will open up and they’ll be out in the work force.”