April 14, 2009
Budget Update
Forum Scheduled for May 7th at 3:30 p.m. in Arts 240
We learned in the last few weeks that California will not receive enough federal stimulus money to avoid $948 million in cuts to specific programs in the 2009-10 budget, including a $50 million reduction to the CSU's 2009-10 budget. A determination by the state treasurer and state finance director as to whether or not the state would receive a specified amount of the federal funds was one of the requirements included in the recently enacted state budget. The treasurer and finance director's March 27 decision means the cuts to specific programs are occurring. It also means the personal income tax rates will increase by 0.25 percent rather than 0.125 percent.
As I have indicated in earlier communications, CSUSM's portion of the $50 million reduction is $1.2 million. We had anticipated this reduction in our earlier scenarios, and we believe we are in a position to absorb it on the assumption we will use money held for compensation increases without implementing additional reductions. We are continuously monitoring the fiscal situation and will continue to develop scenarios based on what we know and after carefully reviewing decisions made by the Governor and state legislature, California Department of Finance and the CSU Board of Trustees.
Given that the legislative analyst's office recently predicted that the current budget is already $8 billion short and likely to grow due to California's deteriorating economy, the CSU's continued emphasis is on persuading the legislature and governor to avoid further cuts.
Please continue to visit Budget Central for updated news and information. (http://www.csusm.edu/budgetcentral). I will also hold a Budget Forum on May 7th at 3:30 p.m. in Arts 240.
