Dal faces tough budget decisions: Report

New budget report warns of budget deficit

The BAC released its first budget report of the year last week (Photo: Connor Rosine)

Dalhousie University is facing a $6.9-million deficit next year, according to the Dalhousie Budget Advisory Committee (BAC).

The committee released its first report of the year last week. 

This is based on a model which includes several factors, such as the same enrollment as last fall, a three per cent tuition increase and a three per cent reduction in the provincial operating grant.

According to the report, "Any balanced budget for 2012-13 will require reductions to Faculties and Unit budgets."

This would represent a 3.1 per cent cut across the board. Different possibilities for reaching this goal include cutting strategically, or making an equal reduction to every unit. 

One place it cannot come from is tuition, with it already projecting to hit the cap. The university may be forced to turn to the faculty payroll and its projected $6.5-million increase.

Looming perhaps larger than the deficit issues are the problems with the faculty and staff pensions. With collective bargaining agreements expiring, and negotiations underway, the possibility of the pension fund facing a solvency crisis is huge.

According to the report, Dalhousie could face a $50-million deficit from pension payments alone. This would be 15 per cent of the current budget.

"The BAC has concluded that no plausible reccomendations can be made in the short term to address a new obligation of the magnitude."

The pension issue and the deficit could be key factors in the Dalhousie Faculty Association (DFA)'s renegotiations. Dal's collective agreement with its unionized faculty expired last June. 

The DFA was asked for comment, but are meeting for most of the day.

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