THATCHER — Eastern Arizona College has an almost identical impact on the local economy as Freeport-McMoRan.
That was the news coming out of the Graham Economic Partnership’s second Spotlight event Wednesday morning, this time focusing on the economic impact of education.
During his presentation, EAC President Todd Haynie said Freeport’s estimated economic impact on Graham County is $233 million annually, confirmed by a Freeport representative in the audience.
Meanwhile, per a study commissioned by the Arizona Community College Coordinating Council, Eastern Arizona College’s estimated economic impact is $228 million.
“Our day-to-day operations are at $30 million — that’s actually higher than this now, this data is from three years ago — we have 672 employees, $30 million in payroll (and) tuition revenue is $4 million,” Haynie said.
Haynie said the school has a facilities plan for renovations and new facilities, and there is a need for more student housing.
The issue of the expenditure limit was brought up by another speaker, David Borofsky, the executive director of the Arizona Community College Coordinating Council. The college is limited in how much it can spend, based on a formula calculated in 1980.
However, Heston Welker, vice president of Administration and chief business officer for the college, said new construction is exempt from the spending limit; it’s the day-to-day operations that can’t be met under the current formula, including bringing in more students and hiring more professors.
“It’s not really about, hey, if we get this, we’ll be able to do more; we just need the capacity to keep operating and then use our savings to build those buildings and facilities that we need, that aren’t even subject to the expenditure limit,” Welker said.
Proposition 402 is on the November ballot, and it asks voters to decide if the expenditure limit for Eastern Arizona College should be raised. There would be no increase in taxes.
