A Community College of Allegheny County report released Tuesday concludes the school generates about $10 in direct and indirect spending for every dollar Allegheny County gives it.
"This study reinforces the critical role CCAC plays in Allegheny County," CCAC President Alex Johnson said in a statement.
The school's trustees plan to present the 2011 budget June 10 and expect a $22.7 million allocation from the county.
CCAC's direct and indirect expenditures had a combined impact of $147 million during the 2008-09 fiscal year, supporting more than 6,000 jobs in the county, the study found. That's about $6.89 for each dollar the county provided.
Indirect spending shows the multiplier effect of dollars the school spent, said Kevin Smay, CCAC's executive director for strategic planning.
"For example, if we bought paper locally and that vendor bought something else from somebody else, that would be an indirect expenditure," he said.
Allegheny County allocated $21.4 million to CCAC in 2009. CCAC attracted $2.96 from the state and federal governments for each county dollar. The community college brought almost $62 million in state and federal funding to the county in 2008-09. Combined, that equals a return of $9.85 per dollar of county funding.
County Executive Dan Onorato accepted the report's conclusion, issuing a statement saying: "Especially in challenging economic times, it is gratifying to see that the county's support of CCAC results in a quantifiable impact that far exceeds our investment."
