 The
presidents and chancellors of 12 public
university campuses have sent a letter to
Gov. Pat Quinn and Comptroller Dan Hynes
asking them to set a payment schedule so the
universities can collect the more than $735
million in state payments owed them.
John Peters, Northern Illinois University president, told reporters in
Chicago "I am worried from payroll period to
payroll period, which is every two weeks,
whether I'm going to make payroll."
The overdue payments are a result of a
growing state deficit that likely will reach
$13 billion this year. The state is limping
through the fiscal year by borrowing money
and leaving bills unpaid, including a
backlog of unpaid state appropriations.
The schools said lawmakers approved a
general revenue budget for the fiscal year
that gave universities nearly $1.4 billion
to pay for things like salaries, libraries,
utilities, maintenance, equipment and
supplies. They say they have billed the
state for nearly $1.1 billion of that but
have collected only $335 million.
Hynes' office, which issues the checks to
pay the state's bills, said the backlog of
unpaid bills is $3.6 billion because
revenues are lower than expected and the
state spends more money than it brings in.
"We've tried to work with the
universities to address payment emergencies
as we have with those who provide goods and
services across this state who are waiting
months and months to be reimbursed," Hynes
spokeswoman Carol Knowles said in a
statement.
A spokeswoman in Quinn's budget office
said they were working with the universities
to "explore payment options," including
possibly borrowing money.
NIU in DeKalb County, which is owed about
$60 million from the state, is depleting its
reserves at an "alarming rate" and living on
money it collects in tuition, Peters said.
Universities have cut budgets, imposed
furlough days, and frozen hiring and
salaries to conserve cash.
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The University of Illinois is in worse
shape, with a backlog of state
appropriations totaling about $431 million,
said Stanley Ikenberry, interim president.
U of I employees have taken 4 percent pay
cuts this year, and Ikenberry has said
tuition will likely be raised at least 9
percent this summer to help the school get
by.
Ikenberry said an income tax increase was
the most obvious remedy for the state's
financial problems, but even that won't be
enough.
"The hole that Illinois has managed to
dig for itself is so deep that it's not
going to be able to cut its way or tax its
way out of the hole," Ikenberry said. "It's
going to take a combination of both."
Quinn, a Democrat, has proposed raising
the income tax rate, but lawmakers were
reluctant to support it before the Feb. 2
primary. He has predicted they will pass one
later this year.
The two Republicans locked in a tight
race to face off against Quinn have vowed to
fight any effort to raise the income tax
before the November election.
A slim margin of votes separated state
Sens. Bill Brady of Bloomington and Kirk
Dillard of Hinsdale after last Tuesday's
primary, and neither will declare victory or
concede until all absentee and outstanding
ballots are counted.
[Associated
Press; By DEANNA BELLANDI]
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