State Mandates More Budget Cuts

NC State faces another $6 million in state-mandated budget cuts through June 30, university officials said this week.

In a memo May 6, Provost Warwick A. Arden and Vice Chancellor Charles D. Leffler said the state extended April’s one-month budget reversion through the end of the current fiscal year, covering both May and June.

The university will reduce the academic affairs budget by $4.8 million, the agricultural research budget by $665,486 and the cooperative extension budget by $481,910. About two-thirds of the cuts to the academic budget will be covered by university reserves. The reversions in the other two budgets will be absorbed proportionately by the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the College of Natural Resources.

That still leaves $1.6 million in across-the-board cuts that will have to be absorbed by colleges and units across campus. For most departments that works out to a budget reduction of one-third of a percent. The Office of Finance and Business and the College of Engineering both face reductions in excess of $200,000 while the libraries will cut about $86,000 and the Office of Information Technology will cut about $76,000.

Uncertainty in state revenue collections and a shortfall in the Medicaid budget are responsible for the budget reversion. State appropriated funds of $476 million account for 35 percent of NC State’s $1.35 billion operating budget.