The Navajo County Community College District Governing Board held a special meeting on Tuesday, June 5, to approve the proposed 2018-2019 budget and 2019-2021 proposed capital budget for Northland Pioneer College (NPC).
A public hearing was held on May 15 for final approval of the preliminary budget for 2018-2019 but the board approved a property tax levy amount lower than anticipated. That decision resulted in a budget reduction of just over $330,000, requiring that the budget be revised.
State law mandates that the preliminary approved budget cannot be increased but it can be decreased. The revised budget includes reductions taken from grant support, consulting and contract services, and equipment and supplies.
NPC Chief Business Officer Maderia Ellison presented the budget information to the board saying, “Instruction has a $110,000 reduction to it related to grant support. The institutional support has about $119,000 that is included in there as a reduction to contractual services and the others are taken from different parts of the institution including student services, marketing, maintenance.”
The revised budget includes an estimated 20 percent increase in expenditures from 2018 to 2019, a 3.1 percent increase in personnel compensation, and a 1.5 percent increase in primary property tax levy amounts. The budget also estimates a total of $46 million in total resources available for the 2019 budget year. That is an increase of over 16 percent compared to 2018. “Certainly, we will evaluate this as we go throughout the year, said Ellison. The board voted to approve the budget.
The other item on the agenda for the special meeting was the NPC 2019-2021 capital budget. The budget will guide capital project planning for the next three years. The first year of the preliminary budget is incorporated into the 2018-2019 preliminary annual budget. The budget is based on the NPC strategic plan approved by the board with some involvement at the division and departments at NPC.
Some of the major projects included in the budget are $2.5 million in repairs to the White Mountain Campus (WMC) learning center in Show Low and $8 million for an allied health building at the WMC. In regards to the WMC renovations Ellison said, “It is a project that we know needs to be addressed but it is a significant renovation and so it may just get started this year.”
The capital budget total expenses for each fiscal year are $5.3 million for the 2017-2018 fiscal year, $11.4 million for FY 2018-2019, $8.9 million for 2019-2020 and $4.8 million for FY 2020-2021.
Funding for the capital budget is a combination of current fund balances, contributions from general fund operating revenues and state appropriations. The board voted to approve the capital budget as presented.
