N.C. House budget would fund salary increases, enrollment growth

Raises for state employees and enrollment growth funding for the UNC system are among the measures included in the N.C. House of Representatives budget, slated for a final vote May 19. The state Senate is working on its budget, which is expected to be released by May 27.

For state workers, the N.C. House budget proposes a 2 percent salary increase with a one-time $500 bonus for all employees. The UNC system would receive $31 million in funding for enrollment growth, of this, UNC Charlotte would get about $8.6 million.

In addition, this budget version included $164 million for repair and renovations of state facilities to be divided equally for the UNC system and other agencies. Last fiscal year, the UNC system received a third of the allocated repair and renovation funding.

The House budget also includes $3 million for a “partway home” student program to encourage individuals to return to a UNC system campus to complete their degree; it is modeled on the University’s successful, award-winning 49er Finish program.

While University leaders have lauded aspects of the House budget, they noted it did not address lifting the $1 million cap on the use of state funds for development/fundraising, nor did it provide the requested $3 million for the system’s faculty recruitment and retention fund.

According to information from the Division of University Advancement, during the past five years, $3 million of annual state investment toward fundraising has resulted in an average of $25 million in private contributions and commitments per year to benefit UNC Charlotte.

In addition, the carryforward authority increase from 2.5 percent to 5 percent was not extended beyond the 2016-17 fiscal year. Carryforward is a provision that enables a percentage of funding to be apportioned from one year to the next.