by Rivkela Brodsky
Daily Lobo
Many UNM departments came back from break to find they had less money in their budgets than expected.
That's because the University chose Dec. 21 to implement a planned 1.1 percent tax on portions of some department budgets, which generated $3 million for the University.
There was enough concern to warrant a meeting between the Deans' Council and University budgeters today at 3:30 p.m. in Santa Ana A&B in the SUB to figure out the mechanics of the tax.
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The tax on accounts related to instruction was approved by the regents in April, but no action was taken until Winter Break.
Curt Porter, associate vice president of Budget, Planning & Analysis, said some of the confusion may have been caused because the University waited until December to collect the funds.
But people still should have known about it, he said, because a version of the tax was approved with the University's 2005-06 budget in April.
"It was a regents' action of eight months ago," Porter said. "This is not news. Increasing the level should have been the only new thing."
In December the regents approved an increase in the tax from 0.75 percent to 1.1 percent to cover $500,000 for the University's legal office and $500,000 for a contingency fund, because emergency funding was eliminated from the budget approved in April.
The tax was implemented to fully fund the University's $22 million budget while keeping this year's tuition hike under 10 percent.
The meeting today will allow University deans and Porter to discuss which accounts are taxed.
Porter said some UNM deans may be upset because they did not have discretion over which accounts had money taken from them.
"The deans don't like the way it was implemented," he said.
Vera Norwood, interim dean of the College of Arts & Sciences, said 90 percent of the college's instruction and general budget goes toward salaries. Her concern is protecting the college's ability to provide instruction, she said.
Instruction and general budgets pay for salaries, student services, academic support and central administration, among other things.
More than 500 accounts were tapped in the College of Arts & Sciences.
Norwood said there was also concern about accounts that were taxed that shouldn't have been, such as donated funds.
Restricted funds, like research grants, were not taxed. Also, departments that do not get instruction and general funding, like the UNM Bookstore, the dorms, the SUB and financial aid were not taxed.
Among those taxed were the Office of the President and the Budget, Planning & Analysis office.
Porter said he has been directed to stay at the Deans' Council meeting until he has figured out a way of taxing accounts that the council agrees with.
"Once we talk it through and give them the flexibility, then the rate could stay the same," Porter said.
He said the provost office is looking at other options, which might include a higher tax of fewer accounts.
He said one way or another, administrators must generate $3 million to fund the rest of the University's budget.
"It's a regents' action. It's not debatable," he said. "It's still going to be $3 million."
Norwood said one of the goals of the meeting is to figure how best to respond to the tax.
"We will talk at the meeting about how to meet the tax the regents have placed and how to meet that in a way that protects instruction," she said.
