LAS CRUCES — For the second straight year, the New Mexico State athletics department will finish the fiscal year with a balanced budget.

Due to some unforeseen circumstances, Athletic Director Mario Moccia’s department may even yield a modest surplus as they close the books on fiscal year 2017.

More:NMSU athletics balances budget for 2017, expects future reductions

“We should know pretty soon what the surplus will be, but it has always been going toward the deficit,” Moccia said. “Some of it will still go to the deficit, but we have created, for the first time, a vehicle that we can put monies in there for a true reserve account. The reality is that we wouldn’t have this if it weren’t for $575,000 in coaches buyout money.”

The university received a $70,000 buyout from USC after women’s basketball coach Mark Trakh left in the off-season, and it remains unknown exactly how much former men’s basketball coach Paul Weir owes after leaving for UNM after one year, but NMSU expects either $325,000 or $500,000.

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Moccia said the university has received Trakh’s buyout from USC and that Weir’s buyout has been booked in fiscal year 2017 for accounting purposes, although the exact amount of how much Weir owes NMSU and when the money will be received, hasn’t been determined.

“They booked Trakh’s money and it came in,” Moccia said. “I don’t think there is anyone who would disagree that (Weir) owes us something. But per the rules of accounting in Hadley Hall, they have to book the money in the year that it’s earned.”

The university also received a $100,000 distribution payment from the Western Athletic Conference and a $250,000 more than what they budgeted for a distribution payment from the Sun Belt Conference. NMSU had forfeited a portion of its Sun Belt distribution checks for the first two years after joining the conference as a football-only member in 2014. The 2017 football season is NMSU’s last year in the Sun Belt before playing as an independent in 2018.

NMSU athletics will only be able to apply money to the surplus account after a portion of that money is applied to the athletic department’s $4.4 million debt to the main campus. Athletics made a $1,357,909 payment in fiscal year 2017 and will pay $890,404 in fiscal year 2018 toward the remaining balance that Moccia hopes to pay off in fiscal year 2021.

“You can complain about state support, student fee support, but the bottom line is the budget we were giving, we gave back a balanced budget and it looks like we will actually be able to squirrel away a little money for the future,” Moccia said.

Sports Editor Jason Groves can be reached at 575-541-5459 or jgroves@lcsun-news.com. Follow him on Twitter @jpgroves.