Similar to this time last summer, as the end of the fiscal year approaches, the state owes Eastern about $20 million in appropriations, the university treasurer said.

At this point last summer, the state was about $21 million behind on appropriated payments.

The total state appropriation for Fiscal Year 2011 was about $47.4 million, and the total for FY 12 is about $46.8 million.

Treasurer Paul McCann said the percentage owed by the state, a little more than 40 percent, is about the same as last year.

He said the state’s last payment to Eastern was on April 25 for about $5 million.

“We haven’t gotten any information other than they are still planning on paying the whole amount, but no indication yet on when that is actually going to be paid,” McCann said.

The university usually receives payments about a month after the state receives an influx of funds.

“There are points in time during the year when the state gets money, like when income taxes are due and estimated taxes are paid,” he said.

Sales tax dispersed from the Christmas season also plays a factor. Similar to last year, the university will manage the cash flow situation by reducing expenditures.

“What we’ve been doing since the state started getting behind is we have started to save money, and we have been fortunate enough that everyone has helped around campus,” McCann said.

“We just need to hold the course and keep saving what we can where we can.”

He said he thinks the saving strategy people noticed most was an across-the-board 25-percent reduction to the commodities budget.

In 2011, the commodities budget, which consists of funds for supplies such as paper and pencils, was about $1.5 million.

Before Eastern began saving to account for the state’s late payments, the commodities budget was just north of $2 million, McCann said.

“However, from a dollar standpoint, the thing that they notice is that we are not replacing people as fast as what we might have in the past,” he said. “Since the beginning when we started tracking this, which was in about 2008, we’ve been able to reduce staff by a little more than 100.”

The university also saves money by stretching the time of an expenditure such as waiting five or six years for a new computer instead of waiting three years.

Every little bit helps, he said.

“One of the things that I do is look at almost every single expenditure every single day to give it that second-eyeball look and see if it is reasonable to spend money on something,” McCann said. “In general, people have been trained (to save), and they have done a great job in supporting the issues we have internally.”

The total state appropriated budget for FY13 has not yet been released. However, if the amendment to Senate Bill 2443 passes, Eastern is looking at a 6-percent reduction in state appropriations, projected at about $44.04 million, he said.

McCann said state appropriations reached its peak around 2002.

Rachel Rodgers can be reached at 581-2812 or rjrodgers@eiu.edu.