The Navajo County Community College District Governing Board will conduct a public budget hearing on the 2021–22 Northland Pioneer College (NPC), budget at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, May 18, online via Zoom. The hearing may be attended using the link: https://npcedu.zoom.us/j/83361119122 for both public viewing and comment. Additional access to the hearing is available by phone using a dial-in number for your location at https://npcedu.zoom.us/u/keDY5bGBz4. At its April 20 meeting, the board adopted a preliminary 2021-22 budget. The college is proposing a budget focused on stabilizing the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, while considering recent legislative measures as well as potential risks to Navajo County taxpayers including the recent Transwestern Pipeline Judgement settlement and continued closing activities at the Cholla Power Plant. The college stands ready to help students, taxpayers and employees with proposing a budget that considers the following key items: * A lower levy tax rate for taxpayers going from $1.7827 per $100 of net assessed valuation to $1.7505 for 2021-22. * Reduced tuition for Navajo County “in district” students, from $79 per credit hour to $65 per credit hour for the Fall 2021 and Spring 2022 semesters. * Increasing the salary of NPC employees to cover increases in the cost of living and to align with an increasing minimum wage. After the public hearing, the governing board can decrease or accept the budget from the preliminary figures adopted on April 20. The budget data can be viewed or downloaded as a PDF from the college’s website: www.npc.edu/fy2022-preliminary-budget. Answers to many frequently asked questions are also posted. Interested citizens are encouraged to attend the budget hearing and make comments prior to a formal adoption of the budget by the local governing board during a special meeting immediately following the public hearing. Comments about the budget can also be submitted online at www.npc.edu/public-comment-form.
