College says it can’t give financial information as requested because it doesn’t keep books so it can; reluctantly agrees to provide some estimates
For more than 20 years, the Yavapai Community College has functioned almost completely out of the public eye. Its administrators have been able to do whatever they chose to do with taxpayer funds with little or no question. Given this history, the administrators were no doubt shocked by the action of the Verde Valley Advisory Committee to the District Governing Board.
The Verde Valley Advisory Committee to the District Advisory Board has been trying to obtain the specific costs of operating the Sedona Center and the Verde Campus in Clarkdale with little success.
When the Committee asked for the information from Vice President Clint Ewell, he refused to provide it. He claimed that the financial records are not kept by the College in such a way as to provide the information the Committee was seeking.
At the District Governing Board meeting on August 5, 3rd District Representative Al Filardo asked the Board if it would join him in asking Ewell for the information. During the discussion, which you can view by clicking here, Ewell again stated that he could not provide the details the Committee sought. However, he reluctantly agreed to provide some financial information based on “estimates” to the Committee.
The detailed financial data is viewed as operational and is kept closely guarded by the Administration. The budget it produces fails to provide any details regarding the costs of operating individual campuses. Ironically, it closed the Camp Verde facility in 2010 and tried to close and sell the Sedona Center in 2013 because of low enrollment and operating costs. Amazing how those costs seem to be at the fingertips of the administrators when they want to close something down in the Verde Valley.