Brown assesses state of the university
Disappointing state tax revenue prompts further budget slashing
Paige Gabriel
Issue date: 9/18/08 Section: News
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"Already we have received an advisory from the commissioner of finance from the state of Tennessee that due to the July and August business tax revenues falling even farther behind than was projected, we are mandated to prepare another budget that will include further cuts," Brown said.
These budget cuts can be attributed to lower-than-average tax revenues in the state of Tennessee, the chancellor said.
Departments are being asked to prepare an updated budget that includes a three to five percent cut in current spending, Brown said.
There is a possibility the state will ask the university to return more money from it's budget sometime midyear before next year's budget goes into effect, Brown said.
He said a systems financial officer told him several months ago that this midyear budget cut was not likely to happen, but with the continued tax revenue deficiencies, this remains a possibility in the coming months.
The University of Tennessee system budget has already been cut $22 million by the state, Brown said. Approximately $2.6 million was taken from UTC's budget this fiscal year.
"This is a very serious economic shortfall," Brown said. "The pessimistic outlook is that this cycle could go on for as many as four to five years before we are back to the 2007 level of business tax revenues in the state of Tennessee and therefore [back to] full funding."
Brown said the university is looking for ways to cut spending without "cutting ourselves to the bone" in some of the core areas of university operation.
