Craig Daily Press

Craig — A preliminary draft of next fiscal year’s budget for the Colorado Northwestern Community College’s board may not look much different from last year, Craig campus dean Gene Bilodeau said.

Still, that doesn’t mean the next financial cycle won’t hold any surprises.

At a workshop Monday night, three CNCC board members met to discuss a proposed budget for the college’s tax-generated funds for the 2009 fiscal year, which begins July 1.

Each year, the college’s administration creates a proposed budget governing the three mills it receives from county taxes. The proposed budget goes before the board for approval and amendments, if necessary.

The group decided to earmark $120,000 for the college’s new automotive technology program, Bilodeau said, which is scheduled to host its first classes in August.

Board members also subtracted several expenses from the proposed budget, Bilodeau said, adding that these expenses totaled less than $10,000.

Apart from those changes, the projected budget left the group’s hands relatively unchanged. The board is scheduled to formally adopt the document at its June 30 meeting.

However, the portion of county taxes allotted to the college could become a wildcard in the college’s deck.

Officials from neither the college nor the county assessor’s office know for sure yet how much money CNCC will receive from county taxes.

“We’re expecting a decrease in revenue from the taxes we receive from the county,” Bilodeau said, adding that the county assessor’s office recently estimated the college would receive about $1.3 million in county taxes for the next fiscal year.

That figure still is an estimate.

“There’s no way to know at this point” how many county tax dollars the college will receive, said Jennifer Riley, Moffat County Assessor’s Office chief appraiser. “We won’t have preliminary values until August.”

County taxes include those imposed on real estate and personal property used by oil and gas producers operating within county limits. An audit for the latter category could bring added revenue to tax-receiving entities, including CNCC.

Last year, the county sealed a $198,000 contract with Oklahoma-based Visual Lease Services. The company specializes in assessing the values of personal property used by oil and gas companies, Riley said.

In turn, the company agreed to identify property used by the companies that either went reported or undervalued.

The contract marked the first time the county hired a separate company to conduct the audit, Riley said.

Additional funds resulting from the operation would first go to the county to cover the service’s cost. Any leftover dollars would then be given to organizations that receive a cut of county taxes.

The county still is receiving data from the audit, Riley said, adding that she couldn’t estimate when the process might end.

Bridget Manley can be reached at 875-1795 or bmanley@craigdailypress.com.