During a meeting last week, the Joliet Junior College Board of Trustees approved its 2021-2022 budget.

The total operating budget for fiscal 2022 is $100.9 million and represents a 1.4% increase from the previous year’s budget, according to a news release.

“Our budget is developed each year in support of the college’s mission to inspire learning, strengthen communities and transform lives,” JJC President Judy Mitchell said in a statement. “In a year that affected all facets of our lives, I am proud of the collective work we did to support our students, employees, and community partners.”

The college added this is the 49th consecutive year JJC’s leadership has presented a balanced budget. In order to accomplish that this year, the school had to plan for the impact of the state’s financial crisis, reallocate existing funds, and plan for no enrollment growth, among other measures.

JJC also said its 2022 budget keeps tuition and health care costs flat.

About 98% of the college’s operating revenues come from three sources: tuition, state funding and property taxes. The college attributed the slight increase in the 2022 budget to state revenue and property taxes.

Since 2000, the share of JJC’s operating budget made up from state funding has decreased from 18.7% to a projected 8.7% in fiscal 2022.

Officials have said when JJC was in its early years, each of its major revenue sources was intended to make up roughly one-third of the school’s annual budget.

JJC also said in the release that it’s using its reserve funds to proceed with capital projects which are scheduled to be completed by 2023. These include renovating the college’s police station, renovating non-utilized space on the school’s main campus to house a respiratory therapy program, and completing site work at its City Center campus.

The college has also been able to use government funding to support student retention and completion, and offset additional costs and lost revenue due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last month, U.S. Rep. Bill Foster, D-Naperville, announced that several colleges in his district received relief funding via the American Rescue Plan. JJC was set to receive about $21.7 million.

About half of that funding is meant to be distributed to students facing hunger, homelessness or other hardships.

During this unprecedented time, JJC Vice President of Finance and Administrative Services Cecil Lucy said in the release the school is “challenging the campus community to be creative” in finding ways to meet students’ needs.