After three weeks of delays still no N.C. budget

N.C. legislators have failed to approve a state budget three weeks into the fiscal year making preparations for the upcoming semester difficult for public education.

Classes at public schools and universities will begin in a month and many state officials are concerned that a budget will not be approved in time.

Gov. Bev Perdue signed a continuing resolution July 15 when the temporary budget expired which extends the deadline to July 30. The resolution allows the state to continue operating at 85 percent funding.

At this point" students still are not in the know about important details related to the upcoming semester.

""It's just disruptive to students who don't know how much they're going to be paying for tuition" or how many classes are going to be cut" said Greg Doucette, president of the UNC-system Association of Student Governments.

He said some legislators have told student leaders that this might be the last extension while others have said the budget might not be approved until the end of next month.

Classes are about to start and there's no definitive answer"" he said. At this point there's some level of exasperation and exhaustion.""

Rob Nelson" UNC-system vice president of finance" said the UNC system has been preparing for budget cuts all year.

""This current budget system certainly did not sneak up on us"" he said.

But he said he will be concerned if the budget is not approved by the end of this month.

Universities cut back on library hours and other facilities during the summer to decrease spending. But when the students return, new equipment will have to be ordered and facilities will stay open longer.

Without a budget, it will be hard for universities to determine their spending limits, he said.

UNC-Chapel Hill has already started preparing for a 10 percent cut. Before July, the university was preparing for a 5 percent cut.

We've already taken measures" said UNC-CH Student Body President Jasmin Jones. Whatever the outcome we are already in a safer place" she said.

The General Assembly has come to a compromise on the spending part of the budget, but has not been able to negotiate the tax package, said Bob Hall, executive director for the think tank Democracy North Carolina.

Perdue asked legislators to create $1.5 billion in new taxes in order to balance the $4.7 billion shortfall last month. The House and Senate, as of Tuesday, have not been able to negotiate the best way to increase taxes.

After a conference committee session Tuesday, Speaker of the House Joe Hackney said in a statement that although there was still no budget, great progress had been made.

It's frustrating for people who are dependent on the state" Hall said. But" it's a lot of money and there are a lot of strong disagreements.""


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