Salary negotiations are slated to take place later this summer, but no money has been specifically allocated for salary increases in the new state budget.

“Funds have not been specifically allocated yet. We’re still waiting for the total appropriation number from the IBHE(Illinois Board of Higher Education) on unavoidable costs and academic support,” said Kim Furumo, the Eastern Illinois University budget director.

Interim President Lou Hencken is still unsure of how the budget is going to work out. He saw one version of the budget and was happy with it, but then major changes were made and the final outcome is still unclear.

“The one thing we don’t know what’s going be yet is what we call the income fund. The income fund is the money we get from tuition,” said Hencken.

The amount for the income fund is still being waited for as well as the total appropriation because the income fund depends on how many students actually enroll at the university and pay their deposits and then there will be a better idea of how much will be in the income fund.

“If we bring in more (students), we have more(money) to spend,” said Furumo.

The income fund is a big factor in the amount of money Eastern has to spend. Salaries will not be paid directly out of the income fund but will be combined with general funds and then used to pay the salaries.

As a whole, the budget for Fiscal Year 03 is still undetermined. The proposed overall budget for FY03 for Eastern as of last week stood at $81.3 million but a final budget is still being waited upon.

The proposed budget for spending forFY03 is currently at $79.62 million dollars which is about $33,000 less than what Eastern spent within the last fiscal year.