FERRIDAY — Louisiana’s technical colleges are facing budget cuts, and Louisiana Technical College — Shelby M. Jackson Campus is no exception.

The state has asked the Louisiana Community and Technical College System to cut $14.1 million from its operating budgets for this year because projected state revenue is in decline.

At the Shelby M. Jackson campus in Ferriday, those cuts will amount to 4 percent of the campus’ budget, Campus Dean Mignonne Ater said.

“It will definitely affect the campus, but I am hoping that we can absorb the cut through frugal spending and that it will not directly influence or affect any positions,” Ater said. “I think it is something we can handle with careful planning and oversight.”

But the 4 percent budget cut isn’t as bad as it could have been.

“We were told that the cuts may be as high as 5.7 percent or 7.7 percent, so to be told only 4 percent is almost a relief,” Ater said.

Some of the adjustments to accommodate the budget cuts will be made by cutting expenditures on supplies and other day-to-day operational expenses, Ater said.

“The campus budget is relatively stable, and through careful planning and the previous spending of the state generated dollars, I don’t anticipate it to affect programs or classes directly,” she said.

The campus will feel the affect of the budget cuts, but Ater said the Shelby Jackson campus is used to working with a constrained budget.

“We will tighten our belts and just really go about doing what we have done day-do-day for years,” she said.

Even with the budget cuts looming, Ater said the college is in good enough shape that there are no plans to stop upcoming programs like an EMT-paramedic program in mid-spring or a pharmacy technician program in this summer.

“None of that is going to be put on hold at this point.”