UConn budget session postponed until October

Although the state’s budget is law, University of Connecticut trustees have delayed a scheduled budget session until October before discussing, creating and approving the university’s 2009-10 budget.

The budget planning session was scheduled for Tuesday, but has since been rescheduled to the board’s Oct. 20 meeting.

Next month’s meeting will be at the Storrs’ campus and will begin at 9 a.m. It will take place in the Rome Commons Ballroom.

The meeting is open to the public, but trustees may go into executive session if they have to enter into any negotiations or discuss other private matters as defined by state law.

Trustees were originally slated to vote upon a budget in June, but – since the state’s budget was still in flux at the time – no final decision was made.
Instead, trustees approved unanimously to set a temporary spending plan for UConn. The plan – $932.3 million – was based on the university’s 2008-09 fiscal year spending plan.

Additionally, a $755.9 million temporary spending plan for the University of Connecticut Health Center was also approved.

Although that temporary action was meant to last until Tuesday’s scheduled budget session, UConn will continue operating under that plan until a final plan has been approved, said UConn spokesman Michael Kirk.

According Kirk, the budget session was delayed because of poor timing.

Kirk said there was not enough time between the state’s budget being approved and the trustees scheduled budget session to collect and send financial information to trustees.

“It was just an issue of time,” he said this morning.

He said the university’s budget office required more time to gather budget materials than was available. The state’s budget went into effect Sept. 9.

Kirk said it was important that trustees and UConn finance officials had enough time to review budget materials before the session.

Although the meeting includes discussion about the proposed budget, the document is “vast” and requires additional review he said.

Trustees are expected to vote upon the budget during the October meeting.