How a voter-passed budget increase will benefit Maricopa County Community Colleges
The passing of Proposition 486 gave Maricopa County Community Colleges District the flexibility to maintain and support existing and new programs as well as continue to offer an affordable education for students, according to the district website.
Proposition 486 does not give MCCCD more funding, it allows them to use more money that they already have in their budget without facing penalties by increasing the Arizona Expenditure Limit.
The Arizona Expenditure Limit is calculated annually and restricts how much the community college district can spend from their budget.
The district faced the chance of an expense cut of $100 million.
“It’s equivalent to the budget of one of our largest colleges like Mesa or Glendale,” said Deanna Villanueva-Salcedo, associate vice chancellor for the Center of Excellence and Inclusive Democracy at MCCCD.
This could have decreased the pay for faculty and affected the price for students to attend community college in Arizona, according to Villanueva-Salcedo.
The MCCCD governing board had no set plan if it were to not be passed, though the district took the initiative to educate the community with an informational page on their website and mailed out a publicity pamphlet to registered voters in Maricopa County, according to Villanueva-Salcedo.
“We’re just trying to make sure that we are staying current with current needs and challenges of our community,” Villanueva-Salcedo said.
A local organization called Elevate Maricopa supported the proposition through an online public campaign on Facebook. MCCCD is not legally allowed to campaign and is not affiliated with the organization, according to Villanueva-Salcedo.
Arizona residents passed Proposition 486 during the general election on Nov. 5, 2024. A new Arizona Expenditure Limit will be calculated for the year of 2025.
The limit is calculated by a mathematical formula that is based on expenses from 44 years ago, when the limit was created. Inflation has increased costs, so the community college system cannot manage growth if proposition 486 was not passed.
