The University of Idaho must cut $5 million from its budget after Gov. Brad Little last week ordered a 3% cut to many state agencies.
Late Tuesday afternoon UI staff received an email alerting them to a budget cut of $5 million in reduced state appropriations for the current fiscal year across all areas.
Little’s executive order required agencies, except for K-12 public schools, to reduce their “General Fund Budget and other appropriations” spending by 3%.
For UI, a cut of $1,612,020 has been made from various programs, including a $1,198,665 cut from the Agricultural Research and Extension Service. Other cuts include $84,945 from the Washington, Idaho, Montana and Utah Veterinary Medical Education program; $233,844 from the Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho Medical Education program; $52,194 from the Forest Utilization program; and $42,372 from the Idaho Geological Survey.
An additional $3,400,200 has been cut from “vice-presidential areas,” representing 2.6% of the 3% cut. The reductions will be $2,192,400 from Academic Affairs; $438,100 from the Vice President for finance and administration; $150,400 from the Vice President for research and economic development; $196,000 from the Vice President for information technology; $284,800 from the office of the President and $138,500 from the UI Foundation.
The General Fund Budget is a pool of funds made up of taxes and certain fees used to fund state operations. UI reported it received $191,300,000 from the General Fund in FY 2024.
In the email, President C. Scott Green and Provost Torrey Lawrence wrote, “We want to emphasize that this is a state funding issue. … Thanks to enrollment growth, prudent fiscal management and strong fundraising efforts, we are well positioned.”
Mackenzie Davidson can be reached at [email protected].