MU finance committee approves FY 2020 budget

The Board of Curators’ Finance Committee approved Tuesday a $3.5-billion operating budget for the University of Missouri System ahead of a final vote this month.

The committee approved three items Tuesday — the fiscal year 2020 budget, a five-year strategic plan and a preliminary look at requests for state money for capital projects in the 2021 fiscal year.

The approval of the UM System budget comes one day after Missouri Gov. Mike Parson signed the state budget bill approved by legislators. The budget Parson signed includes more than $416 million in core funding for the UM System and $10 million for the Columbia campus​ precision health initiative.

The Columbia campus anticipates operating revenue of more than $1.3 billion, according to board documents.

“The governor recently signed the budget. We are very grateful for all of the hard work that the legislature and the governor did this year,” UM System spokesman Christian Basi said.

Basi said the state’s contribution is important to the university’s success.

“Without that state support it would be a monumental task for us to complete our missions,” he said.

Labor accounts for about 65 percent of the overall University of Missouri budget including all four campuses and MU health care.

Basi said the five-year strategic plan allows the university to get the ball rolling on financial discussions.

“All of our goals require some type of financial resource and so this was an opportunity for us to take a look at specifically the finances and say, ‘Ok, how do we accomplish those goals and how do we do so incorporating the budget?'” he said.

The budget and plans that were approved Tuesday will move to the full board for final approval at its June 20-21 meeting.