YAVAPAI COMMUNITY COLLEGE’S REQUEST TO ADD ANOTHER 3.4% PROPERTY TAX INCREASE AFTER LAST YEAR’S 5% INCREASE IS NOT EDUCATIONALLY JUSTIFIED

The only sensible part of the proposed 2025 budget to be considered  at the May 21, 2024, District Governing Board meeting is the 11% increase in salaries and benefits for faculty and staff, which is crucial for retaining and attracting quality personnel

Editor: Robert E. Oliphant

On May 21, 2024, the Yavapai Community College District Governing Board will meet to deliberate on several financial measures aimed at funding costly capital projects on the other side of Mingus Mountain. The proposals include the issuance of a new $16 million revenue bond, the refinancing of two existing revenue bonds, and at least a 3.4 percent increase in the County property tax rate. The Board has already released between one and two million dollars in revenue at its last meeting by modifying its reserves policy at the suggestion of College leadership, thereby allowing additional annual funds to be allocated for these projects.

I contend that approval of   the tax rate increase is misguided and will disproportionately burden taxpayers in Sedona and the Verde Valley, who stand to benefit little, if at all, from these expenditures. Here’s why:

1. The proposed $11 million investment to acquire a 41-acre camp near Prescott, which includes over eighty buildings for programs and housing, lacks a compelling educational justification. While expanding the college’s footprint and providing housing are worthwhile goals, I have not seen data that prioritizes this project over other educational initiatives. Furthermore, the significant shift towards online education and the absence of a major surge in student applications suggest that such an expansion is unnecessary.

2. Constructing a $20 to $40 million Health Science building at the Prescott Valley Center is a nice idea. But it is a project that a university would undertake. It is not a project for a small Community College struggling with enrollment to consider that would, at best, provide service of sorts to only a small portion of the County. It’s way too costly to build and far too costly to maintain!

3. For over fifty years, the Community College has ignored the development needs of Yavapai County’s rural areas. In the past decade, the focus has been on enhancing facilities in and around Prescott, with approximately $150 million invested in capital construction and major renovations. In contrast, Sedona and the Verde Valley have seen scant attention, with only a handful of projects like a $9 million student residence, a $10 million distillery/beer project, and a planned commercial driving program—all of which were abandoned.

4. The District Governing Board approved a 5% tax rate hike just a year ago. I think the new additional 3.4% tax rate hike has not been educationally justified. Where are the compelling education reasons for it?

5. The only sensible part of the proposed budget is the 11% increase in salaries and benefits for faculty and staff, which is crucial for retaining and attracting quality personnel. This increase is sustainable, funded by the substantial student tuition hike already approved and the funds released from the reserve policy adjustment in April 2024.

Given the absence of serious educational justification or a showing of a dire need for the 3.4% tax rate increase, approval of it appears very unwise. Moreover, the use of the additional funds, as explained by the Community College leadership,  fail to adequately serve the broader community’s interests, some of which have been ignored for a half century.