DAVIE, FL – At a time when the national bond market is in crisis and budgets are being slashed across Florida, South Florida community leaders and area workers questioned Nova Southeastern University’s (Nova) request for an additional $60 million in tax-exempt bonds at a hearing before the Broward County Educational Facilities Authority (BCEFA) today.

“No one’s saying these funds and the process for attaining bonds shouldn’t exist,” said Dr. Bruce Nissen, the Director of Research at the Center for Labor Research and Studies at Florida International University. “We just want to be sure the board ensures greater transparency in how the bonds are issued, how the university uses those funds, and how the broader community will benefit.”

Since 2000 Nova has accrued nearly $250 million in outstanding bond debt issued by the BCEFA for campus expansion. Meanwhile, a 2006 audit by Ernst & Young that revealed the university did not adequately monitor the financial records for the construction and maintenance of the facilities funded by tax-exempt bonds—including the University Center. BCEFA bond regulations indicate Nova must have procedures in place to show how tax exempt financing is used. Nova stated that they implemented a procedure to amend this lapse, and the community will call on the school to release details of how they are tracking the tax-exempt funds.

Community leaders are also raising concerns about a potential conflict of interest between Nova and the BCEFA. Although the BCEFA is charged with issuing bonds for any Broward institution of higher education, only one other area school has received Broward County bonds. In addition, the board—led by BCEFA executive director and Nova Vice President of Finance David Heron—operates from within the Nova Administration Building, board meetings are held at the university, and all documentation of BCEFA's activities is housed on campus.

“The bond markets are in turmoil and we have questions about Nova’s ability to take on this much debt, especially in light of the rising level of student debt,” said Rev. Renwick J. Bell, pastor of Church of Our Savior, MCC in Boynton Beach.

Education debt among Nova students ranks eighth nationally according to a study by US News and World Report. As the university has taken on millions in bond debt, tuition costs at Nova have also risen-- 28% in the last five years alone.

In the last year and a half, faith, community, and elected leaders have questioned Nova's harmful practices on a number of fronts—including the treatment of workers who clean, maintain, and otherwise service the university’s campuses. In 2006, the university’s administration responded to workers efforts’ to form a union by terminating their employer’s cleaning contract, leaving more than 100 janitors without jobs and forcing the workers and their families deeper into poverty.