By Tammy Gray A $58.3 million budget, which includes a property tax rate decrease, was approved for Northland Pioneer College (NPC) by the Navajo County Community College District Governing Board during a meeting on Tuesday, May 18. The current tax levy rate for the college district is $1.7827. It will decrease by three cents in the upcoming year to $1.7505 per $100 of assessed value. A memo to the board notes that, “This rate will allow the district to receive $229,191 in additional revenues for new construction.” Staff noted that the decrease is due in part to the tough economic conditions that Navajo County residents have been facing. “Navajo County taxpayers continue to deal with the economic downturn related to the pandemic. It may be years before Navajo County sees any economic improvement and reduction in unemployment. As such, the college does not want to burden local taxpayers any further and recommends setting the property tax levy below the maximum allowed,” a document presented to the board stated. Although the property tax rate is slightly decreased, NPC’s overall budget is increasing by 14.3% over the previous year. NPC officials are expecting revenue increases over the previous year in several different areas, including additional tuition revenues of nearly $1.8 million, and the receipt of $1.14 million in rural community college aid. Last year the school received just $334,800 in rural community college aid funds. Despite expecting increased revenue from tuition, the board has actually reduced the cost of tuition for students who live in Navajo County to $65 per credit hour. The 2021-22 budget also includes a salary increase for NPC employees “to cover increases in the cost of living and to align with an increasing minimum wage.” Board members also approved a preliminary three-year capital budget during the meeting. The 2022-2024 capital budget will help NPC plan capital projects and expenditures for the next three years. Among the major expenditures for the 2021-22 fiscal year are construction of a new skills center in Show Low, which will include space for welding, auto and construction programs; the beginning of construction of White Mountain Campus facilities; the start of a remodel project of the Little Colorado campus cosmetology center and expansion of the parking lot; and a campus security camera project. Other major projects include updating and refurbishing of technology systems, such as updating outdated routers, servers, computers, printers, monitors and other equipment that keeps the college current with new technology. In other action on May 18, the board: * Heard a report on the current financial position of the college. Throughout the first nine months of the fiscal year, approximately 75% of the budget has been expended while revenues are at 67%. Both numbers are coming in as anticipated, and are expected to balance out by the end of the fiscal year. * Heard year-end reports from the NPC Faculty Association, Classified and Administrative Staff Organization, and the NPC Friends and Family organization. The groups acknowledged the efforts of staff and students over the course of the school year, which was made difficult due to the effects of the pandemic. * Presented the Faculty Emeritus Award to Faculty in Biology Cynthia Hutton, and the Administrator Emeritus Award to Dean Peggy Belknap. * Heard an institutional effectiveness quarterly update, a presentation on higher learning commission financial ratios, and a strategic planning update. * Approved the purchase of 100 new desktop computers for a total of $103,411 to replace models that are not compatible with the new Windows operating system. The next regular board meeting is scheduled for 9 a.m. on Tuesday, June 15. The meeting will be held online via Zoom. A link to the meeting will be made available on the NPC website.
