NIU officials are worried about losing money if Democrat Neil Hartigan is elected governor.

Hartigan has vowed to do away with the tax surcharge begun in 1989 to support education if elected governor. His opponent Republican Jim Edgar supports the surcharge.

The Democrat’s plans are to replace the surcharge money by eliminating 2 percent of government “waste” and using it to fund higher education.

However, skepticism for Hartigan’s plan is running rampant at NIU in part because the surcharge gave the university $6.4 million, about 5.5 percent of NIU’s state funding.

“Politicians must realize universities are very, very personnel intensive,” said NIU Provost Kendall Baker.

The surcharge money was used to increase faculty and staff salaries, cover equipment and contractual costs and fund program improvements and expansion, Baker said.

“If the surcharge is dropped, it would be devastating to us,” said Richard Lazarski, associate director for NIU Budget and Planning.

But a spokesperson for Hartigan, Marybeth Johnson, said, “Higher education will not lose money.” The 2 percent waste-cutting would generate $383 million for education as a whole, she said.

Johnson said she could not give the amount higher education will receive because figures haven’t been broken down yet. If elected, Hartigan will conduct an audit and use that as a base for where to begin cutting, she said.

owever, Helen Adorjan, an Edgar spokesperson, said it isn’t as simplistic as Hartigan is making it. If Hartigan’s plan is implemented, there will be “drastic cuts” from other programs such as environmental conservation and the elderly, she said.

NIU officials are suspicious of Hartigan’s plans as well. “If the surcharge expires, there’s a good chance NIU will lose all or at least a portion” of the $6.4 million, said Robert Albanese, NIU controller for Business and Operations.

The surcharge was added as an Education Assistance Fund that helped buffer tuition for students, Albanese said.

The College of Engineering and Technology received needed money from the surcharge, as well. NIU asked for three years of funding for the project but only received money for two years, Baker said.

When the surcharge was implemented, “the demand (for money) was enormous” at the engineering college so it was committed to the project, he said.

Lynn Waldeland, assistant provost for NIU Academic Development and Planning, said the surcharge added to NIU’s financial melting pot for use in an undergraduate assessment project, tutoring, support for minority students and recruiting minority transfer students among other programs.

These programs could continue if the surcharge is dropped, but it would mean a lot of “belt-tightening,” Waldeland said.

University officials might rest easier if they had the same confidence as Sen. Art Berman (D-Chicago), chairman to Senate Committee for Elementary and Secondary Education. “It is easier to understand a surcharge than cutting the budget,” he said.

Berman said Hartigan’s plans also include legislation to use more of the income tax for education.

Berman also doubts the proposal for making the surcharge permanent will pass. “We’re electing a governor, not an emperor.” The legislature barely passed the surcharge with the needed 30 votes in 1989, he said.