The Navajo County Community College Governing Board convened Tuesday, May 20. Prior to the regular meeting, the board held a special meeting to review the Truth in Taxation (TNT) notice in relation to the Fiscal Year 2025-26 (FY25-26). State statute requires the college to publicize the board’s intention to raise property tax rates in Navajo County. The TNT was published twice in both the Painted Desert Tribune and the White Mountain Independent.
Under the state’s Truth in Taxation (TNT) statutes, the college district requested an increase in primary property taxes of $366,412 or 2%. According to the TNT formula, the primary property tax for an owner-occupied residence with an assessed valuation of $100,000 would increase from $171.69 to $175.12. NPC does not have a secondary tax rate to pay for any improvement bonds or budget overrides.
Following the review, the board held a public hearing for the TNT. There were no public comments made. The board then approved the primary property tax rate of 1.7512, generating a tax levy of $19.1 million.
Vice President of Administrative Services Maderia Ellison then reviewed the proposed budget for 2025-2026. The budget includes funding to upgrade the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software used by NPC to manage college operations, including class offerings, registration, financial aid, student payments and all aspects of accounting. The new software will replace what was called an antiquated system and is anticipated to vastly improve processes at the college. A facilities expansion will also continue at the college’s Show Low and Winslow campuses. Staff anticipates the expenditure limit will be breached in FY 2026, but carryforward balances will be used to cover any overage. The current available carryforward amount is $30 million.
A line item to approve the $63 million budget was not on the agenda, so a special meeting was held the following day, in which the board was approved. Board Members Rosie Sekayumptewa and Kristine Laughter were not in attendance for the special meeting. The board also approved the 2026-2028 capital budget.
During the regular meeting, the board received a progress update on the compensation committee. The anticipated implementation of the recommended salary ranges based on the 2021 Market Survey by the Gallagher Study have been delayed due to human resources being not fully prepared for the changes. Implementation of the updated salary grades is now projected to be completed by Jan. 1, 2026. The report stated that specific strategies will be part of a comprehensive compensation recommendation in February/March of 2026 and will be ready for implementation in FY27.
NPC’s Friends & Family (NPCFF) Director Betsy Wilson provided a report on the Fall 2025 scholarship application cycle.
“This is the best we’ve ever done with scholarship applications. We received 84 applications before the deadline, and 77 of those, or 92%, were complete and qualified for review.” The highest number of applications submitted prior to this new record was 56. Wilson explained NPCFF implemented a new strategy of awarding $100 to all students who fully completed their application within two weeks of the deadline, with 23 students awarded. Despite this new incentive, 30% of students submit within hours of the deadline.
Wilson also introduced NPFF’s new Executive Director Jesse Reeck, as Wilson is retiring from her position. Reeck has worked at NPC for three years in the college and career prep department. As Wilson’s retirement gift to the college and the community, a new scholarship has been established, it is called the Golden Eagle scholarship, which will award $1,000 a semester. Wilson and her husband will fund the first year of the scholarship and it will continue to be a donation with a focus on dedications to community members. “So, as you give to it, then you can include that dedication, and we will celebrate that as NPC Friends and Family on our website and will promote any of those celebrations,” explained Reeck.
The board also received a construction report as well as an Enterprise Resource Planning project update.
During the Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT) federal and state legislative update, Board Chair Everett Robinson explained a new proposal called a “skinny budget”. This could affect NPC with major cuts in Federal Work Study, Adult Education and programs like TRIO and GEAR UP. The college’s FIPSE Grant’s funding could eliminated as well under this proposal.
Robinson also discussed a proposed reconciliation plan which would affect Pell grant eligibility as well as remove subsidized federal loans and gainful employment requirements. The changes in eligibility could affect part time students most, due to increasing full-time eligibility from 12 to 15 credit hours and part time to 6 credit hours. There’s currently a focus on workforce development and apprenticeships in legislation. “I guess we have to increase our economic development efforts, get more of the business industry stuff up into this area,” stated Robinson. Those changes will ultimately be determined in this legislative session.
There was a discussion on the importance of engaging with local delegations and sharing student stories to advocate for community college needs, as well as creating a cohesive list of federal and state priorities to better communicate with elected officials.
During the president’s report, Dr. Von Lawson announced the new Director of Institutional Effectiveness Dr. Farah Bughio and the interim Vice President for Human Resources, Nicole Eva Berry. He also thanked all who made the commencement celebration that was held May 10 a success, stating “This was my first graduation, and it was phenomenal.”
Dean Jeremy Raisor presented on the college’s agricultural program as well as the house construction program. While Raisor stated the demand and interest in an agriculture program makes reinstating it promising, “one of the biggest barriers to starting an agriculture program is types of facilities.”
The housing construction program, which was reintroduced at NPC in 2013, teaches student construction basics, such as construction management and specialty skills like plumbing and electrical work. “For years, (those in the program) have been building tiny homes that are then used by the police academy cadets during their police training program. And we are finishing up the tiny house project for that location. Then we started brainstorming on what we can do after that project,” stated Raisor. The program is now looking into having students build a full-sized, site-built home to provide hands-on experience from start to finish. “That’s what we’re looking at rolling out in the future, is a site-built house program where we would potentially build a home and then sell the home and use the proceeds from the sell to fund the next one.”
In new business, the board:
* Approved the purchase of Microsoft 365 A5 subscription licenses, additional security features, and Microsoft server related licenses from Hyetech for $140,654. This is a budgeted expense.
* Approved the purchase of a five-year term for Cisco Security Enterprise Agreement software, from Hyetech for $647,822 for security coverage. This is a budgeted expense.
* Approved the purchase of broadband technician training equipment from Klein Educational Systems, Inc. in the amount of $173,688. In November, the board approved the acceptance of state grant funding from the Arizona Office of Economic Opportunity. This funding was awarded to NPC to purchase training equipment for broadband technicians.
* Approved the purchase of surgical technician training equipment from Surgical Science in the amount of $216,442. Funding for this purchase is included in this year’s budget as part of the approved capital equipment list.
* Approved a contract with CORE Construction in the amount of $63,156, with Chair Robinson voting against and members Derrick Leslie, Kristine Laughter, Frank Lucero and Rosie Sekayumptewa voting in favor. Robinson explained his vote was due to the board not yet seeing a lease for the center and he is not opposed to the project itself. The lease is currently being reviewed by the Navajo Nation Department of Justice. On Aug. 20, 2024, the board accepted CORE Construction as the CMAR for the Kayenta Project. The design fees will be cover by a nearly $8.9 million grant.
* Approved the design fee contract with SPS+ Architects (SPS+) for the Kayenta project for $711,388, with Chair Robinson voting against and members Derrick Leslie, Kristine Laughter, Frank Lucero and Rosie Sekayumptewa voting in favor. SPS+ will work with CORE Construction to finalize the design of the Kayenta Center. The design fees will be covered by the grant.
* Approved proposals from Cactus Asphalt in the amount of $145,416 for pavement sealing projects at Snowflake, Show Low and Holbrook campuses. Winslow will be addressed next fiscal year along with the constructions projects that are proposed for that location.
* Approved of a proposal with SBi Business in the amount of $55,678 to upgrade the communication systems in the Ponderosa Building in Show Low.
* Approved the purchase of the multi-year EBSCO Academic Search Complete, CINAHL Complete, ERIC and Associates Programs Source Plus services for the NPC Library for $81,539 for a three-year agreement. This is a budgeted, annual expense.
