The Florida Board of Governors, the State University System's highest governing body, will ask lawmakers to dole out $65.4 million in pay raises for faculty and staff as well as provide $30.3 million for rising utility costs next year.
The board's total budget request, approved by a unanimous vote, exceeds $3.7 billion and is about 9.5 percent more than last year's budget, raising faculty and staff salaries by as much as 4 percent.
The board approved the budget in its Aug. 7 meeting at the University of North Florida.
State legislators will consider the proposal, which calls for an increase of about $380 million more than the 2008-2009 appropriation, during the spring legislative session, said Bill Edmonds, the board's spokesman.
The request is an effort to keep faculty and staff in the state with the promise of a pay raise. State employees have gone without raises in three of the last five years.
The board's plan came about two weeks after UF President Bernie Machen announced an $11 million plan to give some faculty and all staff small pay raises.
