Thanks to a 7% increase in state appropriations, the Northwest College budget is looking a bit better for next year despite expecting another slight dip in local appropriations and enrollment. 

The college preliminary budget is projected to be $24.65 million for the operating fund, up from $23.59 million in the current fiscal year. 

The bulk of that extra money is planned to go to salary increases of $3,500 or 3.5% for employees, a much larger increase than the last few years where, President Lisa Watson said, increases varied between 1%-1.5% in an era where funding wasn’t keeping up with costs.  

Burt Reynolds, vice president for Administrative Services and Finance, said it’s a conservative budget which doesn’t take into account any potential increases in mill levy funding brought forth by the surge in energy prices since the Iran war began. 

“We've run a very conservative budget for years,” added President Lisa Watson, “and this is meant to be that type of budget.”

The conservative outlook is also a reflection of some tougher trends the college is facing, especially in enrollment, even though early numbers for summer enrollment are optimistic. 

Expected enrollment numbers in the budget are dipping in large part because, for a community college, there are less high school graduates — 617, down from 671 — from the service area who are prospective incoming students. 

Watson said that puts the onus on the college to find more nontraditional students and other possibilities besides just relying on service area high school grads. 

“There’s different pockets of opportunity,” she said. 

The board will vote on the budget draft on first reading at next month’s meeting.