To:                 Deans and Directors

From:             Bruce A. DeTora, Chief Financial Officer
                       Lysa Teal, Budget Director

Date:              March 11, 2008

Subject:          FY 2009 Operating Budget Spending Plan & Biennium FY's 2010 and 2011 Budget Development

We write to request your assistance with the development of the Spending Plans for each of the budgeted units under your direction. Please note, this is a biennium year and we will be updating the FY 2009 spending plan as well as preparing a tentative budget for the upcoming biennium (FY 2010 and FY 2011) for submission to the Office of Policy and Management (the Governor's budget agency) and the State Department of Higher Education. 

State Support in the form of the State Appropriation and fringe benefits is the University’s largest single source of revenue.  The Governor has proposed no changes to UConn's FY 2009 appropriation .  This appropriation includes the $1 million in FY 2008 funds for faculty hiring which was added to the base budget for FY 2009, and the Eminent Faculty Program and the Center for Entrepreneurship funding at $2 million each for FY 2009. We have requested “above current services” funding for the Storrs faculty expansion plan ($5.2 million in FY 2009, $4.6 million in FY10 and $4.5 million in FY11), which is not addressed in the Governor’s plan.  At this point, we will continue to monitor what is happening in the Legislature and will provide additional information as it becomes available. 

The Provost's Fiscal Year Reviews that took place in February and March provided the opportunity for the Schools / Colleges / Units to present and review proposed spending plans for the development of the FY 2009 budget.  As needed, budget hearings for those activities that report to the President, VP & CFO and VP & COO have also been scheduled. For the most part, the necessary information has been collected or is in the process of being collected to develop the University Supported (2 Ledger) adjustments for FY09.  If any additional information is needed, you will be contacted directly.  Please contact your Budget Analyst if you have any specific questions or concerns. 

At this point in the process, we are requesting information for the current unrestricted non-sponsored program administered accounts in ledgers 3 and 4. 

Current Unrestricted Non-Sponsored Program Accounts in Ledgers 3 & 4
We are soliciting your detailed budget plans for activities supported by fees and/or self-generated revenues. All Schools/Colleges/Units with budgets supported exclusively by fees and/or self-generated revenues (Ledger 3 and 4, other than Research Funds) must submit a FY 2009 spending plan using our Budget Submission Form.  Each School/College/Department's operating budget should balance on an annual basis. Any spending plan which relies on a substantial use of prior year fund balance will be subject to review. Supplemental fund transfers from other sources, including the UConn Foundation, must be accomplished prior to making a corresponding budget adjustment to expend transferred funds. These budget projections should be submitted to the Budget Office by April 4, 2008. Failure to submit a budget may delay the processing of purchase orders or other expenditure documents. Auxiliary Enterprise areas and selected Ledger 4 activities will be contacted directly to provide budget and fee proposal information to be used in the development process for FY 2009 as well as FY 2010 and FY 2011.

Fringe Benefits
Since FY 2005, the University developed its own institutional fringe benefit rates.  Please note that there are different rates for University Programs and Sponsored Programs.  This institutional methodology will continue to be used as we move forward.  An official memo with the new University Programs fringe rates for FY 2009 will be published as soon as we receive information on the retirement and health insurance components developed by the Office of the State Comptroller.  We have estimated fringe benefit rates on our website. 

Current Unrestricted University Supported Ledger 2 Accounts
If you need to reallocate the baseline budgets (also known as University Supported 2 Ledger budgets) established in FY 2008, please do so by using an A-1 Form or contact your Budget Analyst for a template.  Your baseline (or permanent) budgets established in FY 2008 will be automatically rolled over into FRS for FY 2009.  However, it is strongly recommended that Schools/Colleges/Units carefully review each University Supported account especially as it relates to Personal Services.  The Budget Analyst assigned to your area will be available to assist you. 

Capital Equipment
If you had ledger 7 capital equipment funds that were replaced with other 2 ledger funding in FY 2005, you will remember that these funds were budgeted in subcode 9009.  If there is an unspent budget balance available in subcode 9009 at fiscal year end, it will be part of the 5% carry forward limitation. 

Other Budget Related Activities - Plant Funds/Inventory Office – Equipment Tracking
The University’s equipment inventory records need to accurately reflect the location and status of equipment in all departments at the University.  The Plant Funds/Inventory Office assigns and affixes a numbered barcode to all equipment with a value of $1,000 or more.  New equipment must be tagged with a barcode once the Inventory Office receives notice of payment.  If prior to tagging, the equipment will be removed from Campus or moved from its original location, the Department should contact the Plant Funds/Inventory Office so that the equipment can be tagged prior to its relocation.  The six-digit barcode is for quick identification of the asset and is the key to the University’s equipment records. Reviews by internal, state and federal auditors are based on the information associated with these barcodes.

You are required to regularly surplus all inoperable or obsolete equipment through the Central Stores department.   If you move equipment but do not dispose of it, you are also required to fill out an ACT-39 form, which can be obtained from the Central Stores department.  Properly documenting disposal or movement of your department’s equipment will aid in maintaining accurate inventory records and help ensure successful equipment audits.  If equipment is not in use or if you need any assistance, please contact Inventory Office personnel. 

For news on new initiatives for Inventory Control, please visit our website.

Documents and forms relating to the development of the FY 2009 Operating Budget Spending Plan & Biennium Fiscal Years 2010 and 2011 Budget Development are listed below and are available at our website:

Financial reports, specific to your budgeted unit, are available through the Budget DataMart. Contact your Budget Analyst if you need any supporting materials.  We encourage you to subscribe to the Budget-L ListServ as we will be using this to provide information regarding budget issues that may affect you.  The submission of budget materials back to the Budget Office should be done through the web based application.  The Budget Submission Form will be available on March 19th and additional information regarding the form will be sent out via the Budget-L ListServ at that time. Thank you for your assistance in this matter and for submitting the required forms by the due date. We look forward to working with you on any outstanding issues.

Updated: 3/14/08