INUVIK
The budget for the Nihtat Gwich'in Council is getting a massive shot in the arm after the organization paid off the mortgage for the Alex Moses Greenland building Thursday, Feb. 16.

Jozef Carnogursky, president of the Nihtat Gwich'in Council, stands outside of the Alex Moses Greenland building, which the NGC now owns outright. - Stewart Burnett/NNSL photo

"We went from a position of paying $16,000 a month in rent to living rent-free," said Jozef Carnogursky, president of the NGC.

The annual budget for the council is $269,000. Without having to pay $16,000 per month in rent now, the organization will have another $192,000 per year.

"That frees up all that money so we can offer more services and programs to our members," said Carnogursky.

That means language classes, on-the-land programs, donations and more.

"This allows more flexibility for us," he said. "That's something we're really proud of. It also ensures when a new council comes in, they have their own building and they don't need to worry about making those kind of payments. We've set the groundwork for that moving forward."

The NGC spent cash it had generated through its economic arm to pay off the mortgage. Carnogursky declined to reveal that total sum.

The Nihtat Gwich'in now own and operate the building and it is generating revenue for the NGC's members.

The organization is going through its budget exercise moving into next year and will be determining how best to use the newly freed up money. Carnogursky said it will allow the Nihtat more options in its internal budget process.

"It's definitely a significant amount and I think that's why we're happy," he said. "We're proud of that. Now we're free and clear. We can focus on other things, whereas before we were heavily dependent on our economic arm to cover those costs and shortfalls that we had every year."

He credited the NGC board, staff, Ernie Carmichael of CIBC and Paul Teoh for help in making this happen.

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