The university is looking at a $2.6 million general fund budget deficit next year.
By HAROLD GWIN
YOUNGSTOWN — Youngstown State University should look at cutting administrative costs before asking employees for concessions to cover a projected budget deficit, the president of the classified employees union said.
Christine Domhoff, president of the 350-member Association of Classified Employees, was responding to questions raised by members of the YSU Board of Trustees at a special meeting Thursday to discuss the impact of Gov. Ted Strickland's proposed state budget on the university.
A YSU draft budget for 2007-08 showed that, should the university accept the governor's proposal to freeze tuition next year in exchange for an increase in state funding, YSU will be looking at a deficit of just over $2.6 million in a general fund budget just under $140 million.
The potential red ink prompted Trustee Dr. H.S. Wang to ask if the university can reopen negotiations with its four campus unions to perhaps seek a wage freeze.
Contracts call for most employees to get pay raises in the 3 percent to 3.5 percent range next year, raising university costs by more than $3 million for salaries and fringe benefits.
Dr. David C. Sweet, YSU president, responded that the administration is looking at all possibilities.
Groups consulted
Trustee Donald Cagigas pressed the question, asking if the administration has met with the unions regarding the budget issue.
Sweet said the university's Labor Management Council was briefed on the budget situation two weeks ago and he later met with the executive board of the Association of Professional/Administrative Staff on the same subject.
He said he's also briefed the Academic Senate, student groups and others about the issue.
Domhoff said that any suggestion that union employees be asked for concessions is premature, based on the fact that no one knows yet what the final form of the state budget will be.
The number of administrators at YSU has risen by about 200 percent over the past five years, she said, and proposed that the university look there first to cut spending.
Bob Hogue, a spokesman for the 380-member faculty union, said he hadn't heard a suggestion that the contract be reopened.
His initial reaction was that he didn't think that will happen. It would require some "extremely serious consideration" on the part of a large number of people, including the union executive and negotiating committees, he said.
Both Wang and Cagigas pointed out the university has only about two months to deal with the budget problem before the new fiscal year begins.
Actual funding increase
Sweet has said that the governor's proposal wouldn't mean a full 5 percent for YSU next year, if the money is channeled through the current state funding formula. The university would see only about a 1.7 percent increase, he said.
Neal McNally, YSU director of budget planning and resource analysis, told the trustees that would amount to about $500,000.
Even if the state funding can be changed to give every institution a flat 5 percent increase in funds, YSU would net about $2 million, he said.
The university should anticipate some budget shortfall, Sweet said, adding that the administration will continue to look for ways to reduce spending.
There was no talk of any tuition increase for next year. YSU has had increases in each of the past nine years and the cost for in-state undergraduates now sits at just under $6,700 a year. YSU officials said the university still has the lowest tuition among the 11 largest state colleges and universities.