During the Feb. 20 meeting of the Navajo County Community College District Governing Board, Northland Pioneer College Chief Business Officer, Maderia Ellison, provided an overview of the current cash flow and budget. Ellison indicated that the year-to-date net cash flow is at $2.8 million based on all incoming revenues and outgoing expenditures. “That is slightly less than where we were this time last year. A lot of this is related to timing and property tax does have an impact,” said Ellison.
She noted that Navajo County has been delayed in processing property tax bills and this has had an impact on NPC revenues coming in later than usual. The reduction of tax funds provided by the Cholla Power Plant is expected to significantly impact future property tax revenues.
For the upcoming 2018-2019 fiscal year, preliminary budget information includes an expected increase in revenues by $400,000 to $700,000. Updated figures will be provided once a property tax review has been completed. That increase is based on rough estimates based on the two percent tax increase that was approved by the board. State funding is expected to increase by approximately $162,000. This is an estimate because the state of Arizona has not approved a budget yet. With the previously approved tuition increase of $2 per credit, tuition and fee revenues are expected to increase by $60,000 compared to the current year.
In other business, the board awarded a $266,732 contract to Flynn Southwest out of Scottsdale to replace the roof at the Silver Creek Performing Arts Center located at the Northland Pioneer College (NPC) Snowflake campus during their Feb. 20 meeting.
It was noted that the existing roof of the facility has outlived its warranty and is in need of replacement. The bidding process opened on Jan. 25, and five bids were received ranging from $266,732 to $307,460. This project was included in the fiscal year 2017-18 approved capital budget.
The board also approved another expense within the budget of computer equipment in the amount of $130,274. This equipment will help support continued development of the classroom environments by replacing existing hardware in the 15 video classrooms.
Another project that was approved by the board was to purchase a doublewide modular building for the Whiteriver Center. This will replace a singlewide modular at the center. The cost of this project will not exceed $105,000. It was noted that the cost to modify and correct structural and functional issues with the singlewide would be far more expensive. This project is also part of the capital improvement plan for the college this fiscal year.
The next board meeting will be held at 10 a.m. on March 20, in the Tiponi Community Center on the NPC Painted Desert Campus in Holbrook.
