University of Idaho officials have unveiled plans to address how the institution will tackle looming budget cuts, though its still unclear if job cuts will be implemented.
The university has to cut about $7.1 million, or 6 percent, of its state funding to meet its share of the $100 million general fund reduction recently ordered by Governor Butch Otter. In letters mailed to the school’s faculty, staff and students Monday, UI President Duane Nellis said the money will be taken from personnel costs, operating expenditures and capital outlays.
The revised spending plan, to be posted on a university Web site, provides few details regarding those impacts. It indicates the university’s general education budget will be cut by $5.56 million, mostly in the form of operating expense reductions. The Agricultural Research and Extension Centers will lose $1.5 million, including $350,000 in personnel cost cuts, $729,000 in operating savings and $420,000 from capital outlays. The Forest Utilization Research program and Idaho Geological Survey will lose $22,300 and $30,700, respectively, all of it from personnel cost reductions.
Nellis said furloughs had been discussed, but the school is not currently pursuing it.
It’s unclear, though, whether there will be any layoffs. The letter said personnel cost cuts in the general education budget will be handled primarily by eliminating vacant positions. However, it doesn’t say how the research and extension centers, forest utilization program or the geological survey will handle their personnel cost cuts.
University officials already tried to close one research center in Parma earlier this year, in response to previous budget cuts, but were forced to postpone that action after public opposition.
In the letter, Nellis told state legislators that any further reductions in state support “should no longer be an option,” given the vital role UI plays in Idaho’s social and economic development.
