Business members from different colleges and departments are invited to a Business Community Open Forum today to discuss the effects of utility- and employee-related expenses on the UA budget, as part of a series sponsored by the Financial Services Office.

Jim Florian, the assistant budget director, will hold the forum in the Student Union Memorial Center North Ballroom from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.

“”The discussion will be covering the structural elements of the university’s state appropriation and the effects utilities and employee-related expenses have had on the university’s budget,”” Florian said.

Individuals from other university departments and units will also participate, like Human Resources, the Department of Risk Management and Safety, the Center for Computing and Information Technology and the University Foundation.

Florian said the event is meant for the finance and business managers of the university, and that the discussion will not address UA budget cuts as was originally released April 18 by the UA community news service.

Florian contacted University Communications, and corrections were made to the original article.

“”I will not be discussing how the $10 million in cuts will affect the university,”” Florian said. “”I will focus mainly on the effects of rising uncontrollable costs of things like utility bills and rising employee rates of health care on the UA budget.””

Florian added that the state did not give much to the university general fund, and different departments and colleges will have to make up for the loss by reallocating money into the general fund for the next fiscal year.

According to the University of Arizona Five Year Strategic Plan FY 2008-2012, general fund appropriations to the UA have decreased by about $30.4 million per year, with an annual growth of only 2.75 percent, just 22 percent more than 2000.

The general fund is composed of tax-payer dollars and tuition money collected and redistributed by the state, Florian said.