The state education budget passed by a Florida House of Representatives council on Tuesday was kinder to higher education than expected, but UF officials aren't celebrating yet.
Joe Pickens, R-Palatka and chairman of the Schools and Learning Council, said he originally thought the council would have to cut the statewide university operating budget by up to 4 percent, or as much as $880 million, because of state revenue shortfalls.
But once the council factored in a potential 6 percent tuition increase, Pickens said it came down to a 0.5 percent budget cut - an estimated $110 million statewide out of an approximately $3 billion budget. All budget recommendations must be approved by the full House and Senate and Gov. Charlie Crist.
While the House's proposal is generous, UF President Bernie Machen wrote in an e-mail that he still expects $50 million in cuts for UF next year because the Senate's proposal will probably contain more severe reductions.
Pickens said there's no need to fear yet.
"So even in a year when reductions are being made, there are pleasant surprises," Pickens said. "We just made a policy decision that public education was going to be one of the areas we spared from budget reductions as much as we could."
He said the 6 percent tuition increase was approved by his council, which planned that the Florida Bright Futures Program would cover the increase. He said the full House will consider it the week of April 7. UF won't know its actual cuts until the end of the session.
In February, Machen asked each department to prepare a proposal for a hypothetical 6 percent budget reduction.
UF Chief Financial Officer Matt Fajack, who oversees all of UF's budget operations, said UF would stick to its original approach. Fajack said the departmental reduction plans are due by April 15.
"It's better to plan for the worst and hope for the best," he said. "There's a long time between now and the end of the session, and a lot could change."
