Four of six regents favor lump-sum budgeting
By Gina Hills
To lump-sum or not to lump-sum, that is one of
the unanswered questions about the University of
Nebraska budget.
Along with Governor J. James Exon's proposed
$71.6 nv'llion University budget is the
recommendation to lump-sum appropriate this
money to the Board of Regents, letting them set their
own spending priorities for the university.
Each campus would have to make its case for its
share of the final sum. The Regents are, in effect, the"
referees dividing up the appropriated money to the
three campuses.
Four of six regents interviewed favor the
lump-sum approach. Regents Kermit Hansen from
Omaha and Kermit Wagner from Schuyler were not
available for comment.
Omaha Regent James H. Moylan said Saturday he
is against lump-summing because he is satisfied with
the present procedure.
Conservative this year
"I'm quite satisfied with the budgeting process of
the Legislature," he said. "I'm sure in their minds
they're doing the right thing."
He added that the governor and Legislature are
"pretty conservative this year. I'm convinced they're
doing the best with what they've got to work with,"
he said.
Moylan also said he doesn't think the university
will have to close its doors if it receives the amount
proposed by the governor.
"If anything, it may be a good cause for
re-evaluating some of the programs of the university,"
he added.
Regent Robert Prokop from Omaha said earlier he
had "mixed feelings" about the recommendation
making the budget a lump-sum appropriation.
Trademen hurt
Prokop had said he was concerned about the trade
craft employes and said they might get hurt if the
administration were allowed to appropriate the
budget.
"It's the people on the bottom of the scale who
are most affected by the inflationary scale," he had
said.
"If you give a 10 per cent raise across the board,
for example, the people making $50,000 a year
would get $5,000, but those making $5,000 would
only get $500 " he said.
In addition, even though the board would be
primarily responsible for appropriating the budget,
the administration would probably do the greatest
share of appropriating, he said.
"When you lump-sum appropriate, many regents
don't take or have the time to do it, so they trust the
administrative team. The administration has pressure
points under them in the faculty," he added.
Prokop said he was afraid the administration might
overlook the trade craft workers and give more
consideration to the administrative branch.
Flexibility added
But Regent Robert Simmons from Scottsbluff said
Friday he thinks the lump-sum appropriation would
add flexibility to the university's budget.
"The nniversitv could make better cuts in the
budget than the Legislature or governor could," he
said. "It is easier to live with a cut budget that is
lump-sum appropriated because you have more
flexibility."
In addition, the money might be allocated to
programs rather than to campuses like it would be if
the budget were itemized, he said.
But Simmons also said "it is only wise to plan now
for the amount of money the governor has proposed,
then if there is some left over, the university will be
better off."
Regents Ed Schwartzkopf from Lincoln and
Robert Koefoot from Grand Island said earlierthat
the budget resented by the university was best for
the system and that Exon's proposed budget would
create a hardship.
In addition, both agreed
appropriation was a good idea.
that lump-sum
NU handcuffed
Unlike Prokop, Koefoot has said the university
administration would not have the power to
appropriate the money becar.se it would be the duty
of the Board of Regents.
Schwartzkopf added that he felt the regents could
best allocate the money to the university because
they understood which programs needed financing.
If the regents had the power to set a budget, he
said, money could be transferred from one budgeting
item to another. This system would be more flexible
than an itemized budget, he added.
"The university is handcuffed when the regents do
not have the power to set the budget," Schwartzkopf
had said.
Marvel;
budget
projection
Friday
One battle in the war over the University of Nebraska budget
dollar should be over this week.
According to State Sen. Richard Marvel, chairman of the
Appropriation Committe, the Legislature's budget
recommendations for the university system should be completed
Friday.
After hearings on budget requests from all colleges and NU, the
Appropriations Committee will present its recommendations to the
Legislature.
The University dollar has been tightly contested among the
Appropriations Committee, Gov. J. J. Exon's office and the
administrative staff of the University of Nebraska. ,
Exon said he will veto any budget recommendations exceeding
the $71.6 million he has recommended for the University of
Nebraska.
Ridiculous, says Exon
University requests for a 25 per cent increase over last year
totaled about $10 million above Exon's proposals.
The Legislative Fiscal Office, the Unicammeral's budget arm,
has recomrrended a 16 per cent increase in the university budget.
Marvel could not say which combination of recommendations
he thought the committee would agree upon.
Exon has said it is ridiculous for the university to get a 25 per
cent budget increase over last year when enrollment is either static
or declining.
When he presented his budget proposals, Exon suggested that
$71.6 million be given to the University of Nebraska in a
lump-sum, letting university administrators hammer out ways the
funds would be used.
Lumped-sum
Marvel at first opposed the lump-sum budgeting saying, "If it
isn't unconstitutional, it is rank responsibility." Later, during the
budget hearings, he said he was beginning to support the lump-sum
concept, so NU officials could "fight it out."
The enactment of Exon's proposals would "create serious
problems for us simply in maintaining our present programs," NU
President Durward B. Varner said. He divided the university budget
into two parts, continuation and enrichment.
To continue current activities, Varner said the university would
require at least $2 million more than Exon's proposals, and that
would not include enrichment areas for the university.
The governor said his recommendation of $71.6 million,
coupled with a projected income of $33.7 million in tuition and,
$22.8 million in federal funds provides more than SI 28 million for1
the unirersity system.
"This is a reasonable budget by any standards," Exon said, "and
the university administrators and the NU Board of Regents have
not been reasonable in their requests."
A Big-8 study compiled for the Legislature shows NU ranks
below average in spending.
Big-8 study
"I don't believe university administrators have the proper
compassion for the overall economic picture," Exon said. "The
University of Nebraska has to realize that the state has the
resources to run a top-flight university, but these resources are not
unlimited."
A large increase in spending for institutions of higher education
in Nebraska could require an increase in taxes, he said.
Marvel before Easter vacation, said he would look for budget
cuts that would prevent any cause for an increase in taxes.
Exon said the 25 per cent increase the university received last
year was the largest in the Big-8. He added that it was "ridiculous"
for the University of Nebraska to come back and asj for another
25 per cent increase for next year.
The legislative fiscal analysist's recommendations call for $743
million university budget.
Varner said he was disappointed with both Exon's and the
analyst's proposals. "It's obvious that some things will have to be
eliminated if we don't receive the budget we requested," he said.
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page 8
daily nebraskan
Wednesday, april 9, 1975
