Increases in student segregated fees that support such things as student unions, student organizations and recreation facilities will not be publicly disclosed until the regents vote on them. Credit: Mark Hoffman

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The University of Wisconsin System is holding back from the public details of its proposed annual operating budget for the fiscal year starting July 1 until the budget and related student fee increases are presented to the Board of Regents for a vote Thursday.

That means — contrary to past practice — there will be no public disclosure in advance of the regents' vote on proposed increases to segregated fees paid by students to support such things as student unions, student organizations and recreation facilities. Details of proposed budgets for individual campuses also are not expected to be released until the regents vote on them.

Another much-anticipated disclosure in the annual operating budget is the reporting of the current level of the UW System's controversial fund balances that sparked a firestorm in the Capitol in 2013, when lawmakers found out $1.1 billion was being kept in fund balances by the UW System and its campuses without full public disclosure. UW officials said they set aside money to cover future expenses, unexpected shortfalls and emergencies at the discretion of chancellors.

Starting last year, the UW System broke out individual fund balances by campus, and by level of commitment toward specific expenses, as defined by the nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau.

The regents last July approved a $6.194 billion annual operating budget for the current fiscal year, balanced with roughly $180 million in set-aside fund balances.

UW System President Ray Cross told the regents then that he expected fund balances would decrease from $1.1 billion in fiscal 2013 to $690 million at the end of this fiscal year — a decrease of nearly 40% in three years. He projected that tuition fund balances by July 1 would be $204.6 million — down 35% from $316.4 million in 2014-'15 and down 48% from the $395.4 million balance in 2013-'14.

On Wednesday, around the time reporters had expected the proposed 2016-'17 operating budget to be made public, Democratic lawmakers began issuing statements blasting Republicans for the financial state of the UW System, and calling for more state funding to be put into financial aid for Wisconsin residents, as Cross intends to propose to the regents on Thursday.

Republicans followed with statements of their own, pointing to savings that Wisconsin students and their families have enjoyed while resident undergraduate tuition was frozen the past three years, and will remain frozen at least through the next academic year.

UW System officials earlier in the week promised the news media they would release details of the budget on Wednesday. UW System spokesman Alex Hummel sent a statement to media outlets at 12:40 p.m. Wednesday, reversing that position.

"The president's and the Board of Regents' office continue to finalize the budget information leading into tomorrow's meetings and full-board presentation at UW-Milwaukee," Hummel said in an email. "Given that, they now plan to post the budget materials at the time of the Thursday full-board budget presentation."

The rest of the background materials for regent and public review were released Monday, including the proposal from Cross asking the regents to consider advancing a request that the state spend another $19.1 million on its Wisconsin Grants program over two years starting with the 2017-'18 fiscal year.

The Wisconsin Grants program provides need-based grants to state residents who attend a UW institution at least half time. The amount of state money earmarked for the grants hasn't changed since 2010-'11, while the cost of tuition has gone up 18%.

State funding for Wisconsin Grants currently is $58.3 million. The average grant awarded to UW System students decreased from $2,161 to $1,773 since 2010-'11, because the same amount of money was divided among a growing pool of eligible students.

What is known about the proposed 2016-'17 operating budget is that higher student fees, previously approved tuition increases and less state support will figure into plans as UW System leaders grapple with $250 million in biennial state funding cuts.

Fees on the rise

The total percentage increase to segregated fees between the 2004-'05 and 2014-'15 academic years ranged from 26.4% at UW-Green Bay to 123.8% at UW-Superior, according to an analysis of the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau.

Students at UW-Green Bay paid the highest segregated fees — $1,460 — in 2014-'15, while students at UW-Madison paid $1,137, and UW-Milwaukee students paid $1,300.

Segregated fees went up again in the 2015-'16 academic year, while resident undergraduate tuition remained frozen for a third year in a row.

The regents in April approved nonresident and popular program tuition increases for five campuses. Two-year tuition increases were approved a year ago for UW-Madison.

Gov. Scott Walker is willing to consider increasing state funding for the UW System, spokesman Tom Evenson told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Wednesday.

"As the governor has stated, he will consider providing additional funding for the UW System, which could be tied to performance-based components and providing additional assistance for needs-based financial aid," Evenson said. "Specific details will be announced when the governor proposes his 2017-'19 budget next year."

Evenson said the UW System saw $72 million in unanticipated savings related to utilities and fringe benefits for employees in 2015-'16. "Those are annual savings that if carried over to the 2016-'17 budget would save the UW System more than $140 million over the biennium," he said.

Evenson added that Walker supported a public authority model, which would have given the UW System compete autonomy.

"When the Legislature didn't agree, the authority approach ceased," he said, referring to deliberations about the current biennial budget last year.

The $250 million in biennial state funding cuts were divvied between the 2016-'17 and 2017-'18 academic years. Chancellors at individual campuses decided how their share of the biennial cuts should be made with input from faculty, students and staff.

Legislators spar

Sen. Jon Erpenbach (D-Middleton) was the first lawmaker to issue a statement about the UW System's financial condition on Wednesday. He said it was time for the UW System and its Board of Regents "to stand up to legislative bullying" and protect the mission of the state's public university system.

"State support for our public university schools, when adjusted for inflation, is the lowest it has ever been in the history of Wisconsin," Erpenbach said.

"Cuts made by Gov. Walker and legislative Republicans and their attacks on UW System are anti-business, student and faculty," he said.

Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said Erpenbach "has made a convenient omission of his past."

"The senator is forgetting that he voted for a similar UW System cut and then repeatedly raised tuition on students," Vos said. "I don't remember hearing any complaints from him or any Democrat at that time.

"Republicans have made college affordability a priority and froze UW System tuition for four years, saving an average student more than $6,000 over the course of their college experience," Vos added, repeating a cost savings number that Walker has repeatedly stated, based on an analysis in January from the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau.

In his statement Wednesday, Republican Sen. Duey Stroebel of Cedarburg applauded Cross' leadership and said he and Cross have been discussing ways to ensure Wisconsin's best and brightest high school graduates attend UW System institutions.

"Wisconsin is seeing our highest-achieving students flee Wisconsin for other states' universities and lucrative scholarship packages," Stroebel said. "These students are future entrepreneurs, job creators, engineers and community leaders."

Stroebel said Cross' idea to improve Wisconsin Grants is laudable, but he believes attention should be focused on developing merit-based grants and scholarships.

Sen. Janet Bewley (D-Delta) noted challenges UW officials face in making up for the 2015-'17 state budget cut, and criticized Walker and Republican lawmakers "who slashed the UW System to the lowest level of support in its history and they are responsible for these fee hikes."

Bewley said she supports the UW request for an additional $400 per resident student eligible for a Wisconsin Grant, and called on Walker and members of the budget-writing Joint Finance Committee to commit to the request, "especially in light of new fee increases resulting from the cuts they had imposed."

Sen. Dave Hansen (D-Green Bay) accused Walker and legislative Republicans of pricing Wisconsin students out of college, despite saying they are committed to keeping college affordable.

"This should surprise no one," Hansen said. "You can't keep cutting support for the UW System and reducing access to financial aid without having a negative impact on students and the quality of their education."

To return average Wisconsin Grants to the 2009-'10 level of $2,161 would require an increase of $6,384,100 in 2017-'18 and an additional $6,384,100 in 2018-'19, or a biennial increase of $19,152,300, according to the UW System.

While the increases would add up to $12.77 million, they would translate to the state making another $19.15 million in Wisconsin Grants available over the biennium: $6,384,100 million would be added the first year, and that increase would be continued the second year, along with an additional $6,384,100.