University of Northern Iowa president Robert Koob says the order the Governor issued Friday to cut the state budget by two-and-a-half percent came as a complete shock to him. Koob says it came as a “major surprise” because two weeks ago he was in Des Moines and the Governor and legislative leaders assured him there would be no cuts. Last Friday, the state Revenue Estimating Conference reduced its estimate of state tax collections for the current year, and a few hours later Governor Tom Vilsack announced an 82-point-seven million dollar cut in state spending. Koob says the three, state-supported universities will find it difficult to make the required cuts. Koob says alternatives are “unclear” because there’s “a lot less give” in university budgets because they’ve been pared year after year. Koob says it’s going to be a lot more complicated. Koob says there’s no way to implement a two-and-a-half percent, university-wide cut. Koob says the university has reduced equipment, supplies and building repair budgets, so there will have to be other alternatives. Koob says there is no immediate deadline for making budget-cutting decisions.Koob says there is less money to spend, but they have ’til the end of the fiscal year on June 30th not to spend it. Koob says university administrators will have to “find out who we have to tell they don’t have authorization to spend as much money as they thought they had.”
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