Late state budgets are nothing new in California, but through all the crises the money never stopped flowing from the Capitol to community colleges. Until now.

"This is the first time that community colleges have been threatened to not receive our funding," said Teresa Scott, vice chancellor for fiscal services for the Yosemite Community College District, which runs Modesto Junior College and Columbia College.

State Controller Steve Westley announced the cutoff Tuesday, attributing the action to a state Supreme Court decision that put community colleges in the same boat with other agencies counting on state money.

The same day, Scott nixed a $50,000 purchase that would have sped up the Yosemite district's Internet connections, in one example of how the district is trying to save money to weather the storm.

At the same time, Yosemite and other districts in the region are analyzing how long their reserve funds will last.

The next payment from the state to California's 108 community colleges is scheduled for later this month. The Community College League of California estimated the total allocation at $192 million.

Most colleges would begin to have problems if the state withholds August payments as well, said Scott Lay, the league's director for state budget issues.

Under a worst-case scenario, if there were no budget come November, community colleges would have to consider shutting down, Lay said.

He asked: "Can you open for fall classes if you don't know there will be a stream of funds coming?"

Scott said the Yosemite district has a reserve of $4.4 million, and her initial estimate shows the district dipping into it in mid-August, assuming there is still no state budget.

"There are so many unknowns as we speak," she said. "The best we can do is plan."

If the worst happened -- district funds ran out while there still was no state budget -- Scott said "short-term-type fixes," such as cutting part-time instructors, are likely to be among the Yosemite district's first steps in dealing with the crisis.

Marvin Smith, director of fiscal services for Merced College, estimated that the college has enough extra cash to keep running through September.

The Merced College District, with campuses in Merced and Los Banos, has a reserve of $4 million to $5 million. Smith said the college will need to dip into its reserve as soon as later this month, assuming there still is no state budget.

Also, Merced has $3 million invested in a tax revenue anticipation note -- a form of borrowing offered through the Community College League. That money could finance college operations until mid-November.

Smith noted another option: Borrowing from money set aside for retiree health benefits. Beyond that, he said, the college would look to take out a bank loan.

State money makes ends meet

Connie Cochran, spokeswoman for Delta College in Stockton, said she could not immediately reveal the amount of the district's reserve, but said: "It should carry us through to the end of August."

She said Delta also holds a tax revenue anticipation note of about $5 million.

Lay said college districts rely heavily on state money early in the fiscal year, starting July 1, because property taxes -- the other significant component of community college funding -- are not collected in significant amounts until December. As a result, the state payments are particularly essential in the fall semester.

He said community colleges have been drawn into the budget crisis as the result of a Supreme Court case that challenged the state controller's ability to make payments in the absence of a budget, he said. The court ruled: No budget, no payments.

Westley said the decision also applies to Cal-Grant money funneled through colleges to students.

Last year, the California State University system fronted the money to Cal-Grant students.

"No student was harmed as a result of a lack of funding for the Cal-Grant," said Clara Potes- Fellow, a CSU spokeswoman. "I assume it is likely that this year the trustees will do the same thing."

Nick Stavrianoudakis, a spokesman for the Yosemite Community College District, said Cal-Grant funds are normally not dispersed at MJC until about a month after the fall semester begins.

Likewise, at Columbia, Cal-Grant funds are not dispersed early in the semester, but in November, he said.