A plan to raise funds for Northern New Mexico College by giving it the ability to tax Rio Arriba County residents has been scrapped before it even got off the ground.
Northern President Jose Griego asked other regional four-year institutions to collaborate in lobbying state legislators during the 2009 session for permission to tax residents in their respective communities, whether through a sales or a property tax. College officials confirmed the plan is currently off the table.
“We’re not going to the legislature. Something was put together for a proposal, but the support just wasn’t there,” Northern Board of Regents Chairman Michael Branch said.
State Higher Education Secretary Reed Dasenbrock said he had discussed with Griego the possibility of giving Northern the ability to sell bonds to raise construction funds. Instead, Griego sought a plan that would have more closely resembled the taxing authority held by most community colleges in the state, Dasenbrock said.
State law allows community colleges to levy property taxes in the area they serve to raise operating funds in addition to raising construction funds through bond measures.
Northern did not have either taxing power when it was a community college, and it does not have any such taxing power now. New legislation would need to be enacted in order to grant Northern taxing authority.
But pursuing a property tax to fund operations would be contradictory for Northern, Dasenbrock said.
“They’re asking to be funded like a community college, but they’re trying to go in the opposite direction, to become a four-year university,” Dasenbrock said. “You have to chose one or the other.”
Griego did not say what Northern planned to fund with the tax, but said he doesn’t yet have a plan to seek funds elsewhere.
“We don’t have a plan B,” Griego said. “(Northern) is not pursuing the taxing authority idea at this time.”
Branch said he did not remember specifics about what the college will ask for during the upcoming session, which begins in January, but he said requests could include funds for a Native American education program, Northern’s new basketball program and construction funds to add classroom and studio space to Northern’s fine arts building.
During the 2008 legislative session, Northern received $3 million to start a solar energy research program, $50,000 for the Española Farmers’ Market and $305,000 for a community center. At the same session, the legislature also included Northern on a bond issue that passed in November and will bring the college $5 million for its library.
The college currently has about half a dozen capital projects in various stages of completion. An automotive technology building is scheduled to open in December and a groundbreaking is scheduled in March 2009 for a $3 million teacher education building and a decorative plaza at Northern’s El Rito campus. Administrators are preparing bids for plans and design for a $2.5 million solar energy research building and a $3 million library expansion.
Local legislators said they haven’t yet heard from Northern about the tax, or about any funding requests.
Sen. Richard Martinez (D-Española) said he thinks a tax increase is more likely to pass the legislature this year than a large appropriation.
“I think if it’s not real dramatic, then it’s not such a bad idea,” Martinez said. “We’re already levied on so many things, I wouldn’t mind paying another dollar per thousand for education.”
But money will be tight next year when the time comes to hand out legislative appropriations, Martinez said.
“They keep telling us the dollars are very minimal this year,” Martinez said. “I’m not making any commitments yet, we need to know how much money we’re going to be getting.”
Rep. Nick Salazar (D-Okhay Owingeh) said Northern hasn’t approached him directly, but has heard Northern could seek money to build up its four-year programs and construction funds for the fine arts building expansion, to accommodate a four-year bachelor‘s degree program.
Salazar said Northern hasn’t formally submitted its legislative agenda to the Legislative Finance Committee, and he wasn’t sure how much money Northern would ask for.
“But of course, there’s no money this year, so we’ll see what happens,” Salazar said.
Northern’s accrediting agency denied accreditation last month for two bachelors degrees in music. The college plans to seek accreditation for one music program in March.
Branch said he isn’t holding his breath for any new money. Rather, he expects the college to prepare for lean times.
“It’s just not a growth year,” Branch said. “It’s going to be difficult for everybody.”
In fact, Griego told the Board in a Nov. 21 meeting administrators would start putting together a set of contingency plans in preparation for budget cuts before the fiscal year ends next June.
The college will plan for four scenarios, each with a respective budget cut of 3.5 percent, 5 percent, 7.5 percent and 10 percent. Any cut beyond 5 percent — which would take a $550,000 chunk out of Northern’s budget — will likely require layoffs, Griego said.
Griego encouraged academic departments to look for other areas to cut. But that will be difficult, because 80 percent of the college’s roughly $18 million budget goes toward salaries, he said.
The college could also look to furloughs — in which faculty and staff take unpaid leave as a cost-cutting measure — as a way to save jobs, Griego said.
Branch instead called for administrators to look toward eliminating academic programs that have lost enrollment and are bringing in less money than they spend.
“That wouldn’t necessarily mean staff cuts, maybe we can retrain and transfer some people to existing programs,” Branch said. “What’s important is when cuts come, that we be prepared for it. If we make cuts, we want to go in with a scalpel. We don’t want to go in with a hatchet.”