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Co-chair's proposed biennium budget released Monday
Numbers and percentages are still in the speculative stage but are closer to being finalized
Makenna Bishop
Issue date: 5/20/09 Section: News
The university and Oregon Legislature are continuing to make advances toward a finalized budget plan for the upcoming biennium.
There are two different elements that formulate the budget. Last Friday the most current economic forecast was released, and on Monday the co-chair's proposed budget was released.
Sabah Randhawa, provost and executive vice president of the university, said that they're another step closer to finalizing the Oregon University System's budget proposals.
Though the numbers and percentages are still in the speculative stages, the current proposal is for a same-level reduction throughout the entire OUS. This means that each university in the system will face non-differential cuts.
The proposed number is currently 15 percent, which is based on an $800 million added revenue.
Randhawa said there are proposed tax increases, such as a higher income tax on the upper-strata and a higher corporate tax. He said there is still uncertainty of whether or not these tax increases will be implemented.
Randhawa said everything rests on the probability of the added revenue, and could potentially be challenged by the Oregon Legislature.
It has also been proposed that regional campuses, like OSU-Cascades, would face a lower percentage than the main universities. Randhawa said that could mean OSU-Cascades will face a 15 percent budget decrease while the Corvallis campus could face up to 20 percent.
"We're very glad the budget cuts are significantly lower than the originally projected 30 percent," Randhawa said. "For now we'll plan on a 20 percent cut to be safe. It's still no easy matter. 20 percent is a large number."
The biennium economic forecast will most likely not be finalized until the middle of this July at the earliest, which Randhawa said is not ideal.
He said he is aware that students are trying to plan for themselves, financially, and figure out what it would take to continue their education at OSU.
There are two different elements that formulate the budget. Last Friday the most current economic forecast was released, and on Monday the co-chair's proposed budget was released.
Sabah Randhawa, provost and executive vice president of the university, said that they're another step closer to finalizing the Oregon University System's budget proposals.
Though the numbers and percentages are still in the speculative stages, the current proposal is for a same-level reduction throughout the entire OUS. This means that each university in the system will face non-differential cuts.
The proposed number is currently 15 percent, which is based on an $800 million added revenue.
Randhawa said there are proposed tax increases, such as a higher income tax on the upper-strata and a higher corporate tax. He said there is still uncertainty of whether or not these tax increases will be implemented.
Randhawa said everything rests on the probability of the added revenue, and could potentially be challenged by the Oregon Legislature.
It has also been proposed that regional campuses, like OSU-Cascades, would face a lower percentage than the main universities. Randhawa said that could mean OSU-Cascades will face a 15 percent budget decrease while the Corvallis campus could face up to 20 percent.
"We're very glad the budget cuts are significantly lower than the originally projected 30 percent," Randhawa said. "For now we'll plan on a 20 percent cut to be safe. It's still no easy matter. 20 percent is a large number."
The biennium economic forecast will most likely not be finalized until the middle of this July at the earliest, which Randhawa said is not ideal.
He said he is aware that students are trying to plan for themselves, financially, and figure out what it would take to continue their education at OSU.
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