University of Wisconsin System leaders are questioning a provision in Gov. Jim Doyle’s budget that appears to use some income from private donations to help balance the state budget.
Doyle’s budget requires the system to cut 1 percent of its program revenue, or about $28.5 million, “to create additional efficiencies and balance the budget.”
UW System spokesman David Giroux said officials believe the budget would require campuses to transfer $10.7 million in income from gifts, donations and trust funds to the general fund. That doesn’t make sense, he said, and comes as universities increasingly rely on private funds instead of tax dollars for their operations.