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UH to seek $1 bil
in state funding

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By Rod Thompson
Big Island correspondent

HILO -- The University of Hawaii is proposing operating budgets totaling $1.35 billion during the next two fiscal years.

Of that amount, $872.7 million will be requested from state general funds from the Legislature.

University regents approved the two-year budget in a committee meeting yesterday, and the Board of Regents was expected to approve it today.

The committee also voted to ask the Legislature for $202.6 million in construction money for the two-year period, much of which will go for repairing deteriorating facilities.

University President Kenneth Mortimer confirmed that the 26 projects the money would cover are a wish list, but said the Legislature has given "pretty healthy amounts" in the past.

The general fund requests, about two-thirds of the operating budget, represent a declining portion of the total.

In 1995, every $1 from tuition was matched with $10.50 in general funds. In the present 2000 budget, every $1 from tuition brings only $4.30 cents from the general fund.

The university is also moving backward on maintenance.

Last year, the university was working on $96 million in repairs over a five-year period, Mortimer said. This year, the Department of Accounting and General Services raised the total to $166.7 million.

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University of Hawaii