KNOXVILLE — The University of Tennessee Board of Trustees has approved a continuation budget for UT.
The budget recommended by the finance and administration committee and approved Thursday by the full board for the fiscal year that begins July 1 maintains UT revenues at current levels.
Sylvia Davis, vice president for business and finance, said the action was taken because there is no state budget in place.
“The continuation budget just says we are going to operate under the same revenue sources that we have in today’s budget because we don’t know what state appropriations are going to be for the next year,” Davis said.
With the fiscal year approaching, Tennessee lawmakers have failed to pass a state budget. Hopes for an agreement fizzled this week after a proposed tax measure failed to come to a vote, reducing chances of a significant revenue bill being passed before July 1 and increasing likelihood of a continuation budget for the state.
The UT board took no action on tuition and fees until it knows UT’s state appropriations. Davis said tuition could rise as much as 9 to 15 percent.
“We haven’t passed any student fees so it is truly a continuation budget,” Davis said. “We’re going to try to wait for the state to act, but if they don’t we will come back in the next week or two and deal with student fees.
“It really depends on the state. There are really some significant improvements in (proposed state budget) for UT. If the state doesn’t pass any revenues we are probably looking at a 15-percent increase. If the state comes through with the budget we are probably looking at a low of 9 percent.”