Northwest College is expecting less in revenue this year, but the college is still going to take care of its employees. 

At the June reveal of the budget, President Lisa Watson recommended a small raise for the college employees who are largely underpaid compared to regional positions. 

At the July 14 board meeting, trustees approved a budget that includes either a 1.5% raise or $700, whichever is greater, for employees.

Watson brought the proposal for raises to the June meeting and said the college is falling behind on wages. 

“If we don't continue to try to look at it, we’re going to continue to fall farther behind,” she said, adding it’s not fair that the state doesn’t support the colleges enough to support liveable wage positions.”

Local assessed valuations decreased from over $1 billion to roughly $850 million, resulting in a 15% reduction in Park County, which has led to lower revenues for boards across the county. For NWC, that resulted in $600,000 less in local funding. A further $400,000 drop in state funding is projected, along with a $300,000 loss for recapture, $125,000 more than last year. 

Last year the college’s operating fund budget came in at $22,419,357. Finance Director Mark Grant and the financial team revised the budget to where expenses actually appear to be increased due to transfers into the budget from other sources. With inflated numbers for accounting changes removed, the college is looking at a more than $1.2 million decrease in revenues and expenses this year in the operating budget. With that, this year’s operating budget amount totaled just over $21.2 million. 

The dip in revenue is in large part due to a decline in mill levy revenue due to a pair of property tax relief bills passed in this year’s Legislature, including a 25% decrease for most residential property owners and a 50% decrease for long-term residents, which was well used in Park County. 

The college's auxiliary revenue budget for FY 2026 has increased slightly due to increased housing rates and meal plan rates.

The budget does not utilize any reserves, Grant said. 

Watson said many grants are still a question mark right now with changes at the federal level. However, the college did receive a TRIO grant it had been working to acquire, which Watson and trustee Tara Kuipers said was huge. 

“We’re holding our breath on several things,” she said. “It’s a big relief to know we were awarded the TRIO grant.”

She said it’s not uncommon to serve 160-170 students per year through the program, and they’ve had years close to 200 students.