2008 Woodie Awards
A Message from Kenneth Jessell about Budget Cuts
Issue date: 7/22/08 Section: Announcements
Almost to the day a year ago, I wrote to you about potential revenue shortfalls facing the State of Florida and the need to restrict travel, equipment purchases, and the hiring of new faculty and staff. These shortfalls were anticipated on the basis of lower sales tax and corporate income tax collections caused by several factors, including a weakened housing market, and lower consumer and construction spending.
As these revenue shortfalls materialized during the fall semester, we developed a budget reduction program that eliminated over $8.5 million from the 2007-08 fiscal year budget. As it became apparent that even more drastic reductions would take place in 2008-09, a budget reduction plan was set in place to review strategic priorities and to recommend comprehensive budget reductions that would be consistent with Florida Atlantic University's mission, goals and objectives. The recommended budget reduction plan was presented to the Board of Trustees in May and was incorporated into the university's 2008-09 operating budget. In the end, the 2008-09 Educational and General operating budget was reduced by $18.7 million as compared to the 2007-08 budget, which was partially offset by a 6 percent tuition increase for most students and an increase in lottery funding.
Unfortunately, state general revenue continues to decline, and we can expect that the numbers will come in under projections. For the months of March, April, May and June, revenue was $361.3 million below the estimated collections, estimates that were already adjusted downward. This translates to over a 4 percent reduction to estimated collections. To illustrate the magnitude of this issue, general revenue for June 2008 was $2.167 billion, as compared to $2.470 billion in June 2007, a difference of over $300 million for just one month.
In addition to reductions in general revenue, the largest component of our Educational and General budget, state lottery collections, also continues to slide. Lottery revenue, which in February was projected to increase by $120 million in 2008-09, was revised last Friday to be $34 million less in 2008-09 compared to 2007-08.
As these revenue shortfalls materialized during the fall semester, we developed a budget reduction program that eliminated over $8.5 million from the 2007-08 fiscal year budget. As it became apparent that even more drastic reductions would take place in 2008-09, a budget reduction plan was set in place to review strategic priorities and to recommend comprehensive budget reductions that would be consistent with Florida Atlantic University's mission, goals and objectives. The recommended budget reduction plan was presented to the Board of Trustees in May and was incorporated into the university's 2008-09 operating budget. In the end, the 2008-09 Educational and General operating budget was reduced by $18.7 million as compared to the 2007-08 budget, which was partially offset by a 6 percent tuition increase for most students and an increase in lottery funding.
Unfortunately, state general revenue continues to decline, and we can expect that the numbers will come in under projections. For the months of March, April, May and June, revenue was $361.3 million below the estimated collections, estimates that were already adjusted downward. This translates to over a 4 percent reduction to estimated collections. To illustrate the magnitude of this issue, general revenue for June 2008 was $2.167 billion, as compared to $2.470 billion in June 2007, a difference of over $300 million for just one month.
In addition to reductions in general revenue, the largest component of our Educational and General budget, state lottery collections, also continues to slide. Lottery revenue, which in February was projected to increase by $120 million in 2008-09, was revised last Friday to be $34 million less in 2008-09 compared to 2007-08.
Be the first to comment on this story