TR PHOTO BY NICK BAUR — IVCCD board members review the district’s annual audit report at Wednesday’s community college governing board meeting.
The Iowa Valley Community College District (IVCCD) board of directors opened its first meeting of the new year Wednesday afternoon with a review of the district’s annual audit report and later held a public hearing on possible renovations at Babe Harder High School on the MCC campus.
At the beginning of the meeting, Nick Stanley, Chartered Accountant and Partner of Ames-based Schnurr & Company, stepped before the Board to review his firm’s audit of the financial statements submitted by the IVCCD.
Notably, the district’s operating income increased by approximately $2.37 million compared to fiscal 2021.
Stanley broke down the increased operating income into key categories during the meeting.
“All categories of your earnings will fluctuate throughout the year, but the increase this year is primarily due to tuition, which is up $500,000, Iowa Industrial Retail Stream, which is up $1.4 million, and incidental expenses, which increased by $598,000.” Stanley said. “All of this was offset by a federal funding cut, and that’s been pretty normal from what we’ve seen so far this year. It’s really just down to a reduction in COVID-19 funding statute programs throughout the year.”
The district’s operating expenses also increased by approximately $2.18 million over the past fiscal year. Once again, Stanley identified key areas where spending has increased.
“It’s a combination of an increase in collaborative services that brought about a $1.4 million increase in spending, [and] Student services, that’s about $1.7 million,” Stanley said. “However, these increases were offset by a decrease in administrative expenses of approximately $1.2 million.”
To round out the audit report, Stanley informed board members that the district’s net position increased by approximately $6.1 million compared to the previous fiscal year and said it was “a very solid year for the district.”
As the meeting drew to a close, Dr. Robin Lilienthal, Provost of Marshalltown Community College, submitted a motion to the Board to authorize a public hearing on plans, specifications, contract form and estimated costs for the renovation of Babe Harder High School and locker rooms on the MCC campus.
Lilienthal reported that the project would be a “modest renovation” of the gymnasium and locker rooms, and the college “targets the construction bid cost to be approximately $1.1 million.”
“So far they’re working really hard and it’s looking very promising,” Lilienthal said of the preliminary administrative work for the project. “At least from their cost estimates and what we want to do. So hopefully [we’ll] hit that target.”
The Board unanimously approved the public hearing for the next regular meeting on February 8, to be held at 4:00 p.m. in the IVCCD Board Room at 3702 S. Center St. in Marshalltown.
In other business, the Board has:
• Approved the Standard Form of Agreement between IVCCD and OPN, Inc. for the Grinnell Campus Auto Tech Study;
• Approved a joint staffing agreement between IVCCD, Grinnell-Newburg Community School District and East Marshall Community School District for joint services of a college and career transition counselor during the 2024-2025 school year;
• Accepted a $1,275 donation from the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque to the Iowa Valley Business and Community Solutions Intermediary program for virtual shadow job services for local school districts.
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Contact Nick Baur at 641-753-6611
or nbaur@timesrepublican.com.
