Senate budget hearings moved to St. Thomas this week, with the Office of Management and Budget appearing early Tuesday before the Finance Committee to defend its approximately $4.1 million overall budget request.
Included in the figure is $2.3 million from the General Fund, which will cover $1.3 million in personnel costs and $496,089 for associated fringe benefits, along with $50,253 for capital outlays, $52,895 for supplies, $82,000 for utilities and $331,927 for "other services and charges."
OMB also receives money from the Indirect Cost Fund, for which the projected FY 2012 budget is $1.8 million. OMB Director Debra Gottlieb told senators Tuesday that the money covers $729,289 for personnel services, $263,812 in fringe benefits, $159,250 in capital outlays, $148,800 for supplies, $40,000 for utilities and $464,592 in "other services and charges."
The "other services and charges" category generally covers everything from travel expenses to professional services contracts.
Gottlieb said Tuesday that based on last year’s numbers, OMB would be taking a 1.4 percent cut in its General Fund appropriation and a $4.2 percent in its Indirect Cost Fund money in FY 2012.
Tasked with actually allotting General Fund budget money to the various departments and agencies, Gottlieb also gave an update on the government’s FY 2011 appropriation levels, which she said totaled $806.5 million as of June 23. The figure factors in appropriations made through the year by senators outside of the approved budget, along with other adjustments in federal and local funds.
Gottlieb said nearly $528 million out of the $806.5 million has been allotted to date, with the budgetary reserve for FY 2011 holding steady at $278.6 million. Another $50.3 million in the budgetary reserve is for miscellaneous appropriations that are "available until expended." Gottlieb said OMB has also adjusted its allotment levels to reflect the newly decreased FY 2011 budget recently passed by the Legislature, which was meant to bridge the current budget deficit by $57 million.
Gottlieb said OMB has so far spent approximately 69 percent of its revised FY 2011 appropriation of $1.6 million, along with 42.5 percent of its Indirect Cost Fund appropriation.
She said that an increased push to go after federal funding is a top priority for OMB’s Federal Grants Management Unit during FY 2012. Gottlieb explained that federal funding — outside money or grants provided through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act — has jumped from $53 million in 2004 to a projected $177 million for 2012, which should enable the agency to maintain current training and certification procedures.
Testimony wrapped up in the afternoon with a presentation from WTJX head Osbert Potter, who said that his agency’s approximately $4 million General Fund budget represents a 7 percent cut over last year’s $4.3 million appropriation.
Present during Tuesday’s hearing were Sens. Carlton "Ital" Dowe, Louis P. Hill, Sammuel Sanes and Janette Millin-Young.
