CHENANGO COUNTY – With the new fiscal year a little more than a week away, Chenango County taxpayers continue to face increasing community college chargeback rates that county bookkeepers say can have a big impact on the local budget.

In October, the county received the community college chargeback rates for the 2014-2015 academic year that are set by SUNY. The rate and the number of students from Chenango County attending a specific school affects the county’s annual budget, explained County Treasurer William Craine, especially when it comes to limits imposed by the property tax cap.

“When the community college model started in the 1960s, the original deal was that the county pays a third, the parents and student pay a third, and the state pays a third,” Craine said.

But today, costs to parents and counties have increased while the state foots less at approximately 28 percent, putting more financial burden on counties and students

“The original formula is not what it use to be,” Craine added.

Chargeback rates in 2014 cost the county $1.2 million, approximately half of which covered the costs of tuition at Broome Community College. But county officials say there has also been increasing enrollment at other community colleges throughout the region. The 2015 county budget calls for $1.05 million for chargebacks plus nearly $20,000 carryover from the 2014 budget.