Casey freezes U. allotmentof $1.3 million

Pennsylvania Governor Robert Casey froze $1.3 million intended for the University in response to fears that the state's financial condition will worsen. Friday's freeze is the second in two months and may require the University to stall one-time expenditures, President Sheldon Hackney said yesterday. "We will have to hold it out and see what happens in the future," Hackney said. "But we should be able to handle this without affecting ongoing operations." The spending halt comes on the tail of this month's $250,000 cut in funds to the Morris Arboretum and November's state freeze of $200,000, earmarked for the University's equipment budget. The governor held 3.5 percent of the funds allocated for University in reserve, as part of a $275 million statewide spending halt. Although the University has not officially lost the money, it will not receive it until Casey determines the state has sufficient incoming revenue to match outgoing appropriations. Casey has frozen a total of $403 million in state allocations over the last two months. Currently tax revenues are "right on target," Casey spokesperson Sue Grimm said last week. But it is not clear whether critical times for tax collection -- including Christmas sales and April personal income taxes -- will keep pace with projections and the ongoing national recession may keep tax returns down, she added. "If tax revenue holds up and the governor feels comfortable there is an opportunity [to get the money back]," Executive Vice President Marna Whittington said yesterday. "We will have to tighten belts all around." Whittington noted that she has not yet seen the governor's action in writing. This freeze is another in a series of sudden setbacks for the University's state funding over the past two years. Last January the state cut $1.3 million from the University -- also a 3.5 percent deduction -- in an effort to balance the state's budget, which at the time was posting a $1 billion deficit. Last fiscal year the University only received an increase of one percent in state funds over FY 1990, an increase less than administrators expected. This summer the University received no increase. "This indicates we may have another worrisome spring," Hackney added. "Our appropriations for 1993 will also be under pressure." Casey froze 3.5 percent of the allocations of all colleges and universities receiving general state instructional funds. "Under the circumstances it is fair," Hackney said. "The same percentage increased or decreased for each school -- it's applied equally." Pennsylvania funds higher education in a manner markedly different from other states. It places schools receiving state money in three catagories: state system, state-related and non-state-related. State system schools including Kutztown State University and Indiana University of Pennsylvania while state-related schools include Pennsylvania State University and Temple University.

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