Administrators have to convince the Illinois General Assembly to approve a tax increase which is needed for higher education funding. This message, given by Gov. James Thompson Tuesday to the Illinois Board of Higher Education, was predicted by some education leaders.

NIU President John LaTourette said enrollment might be reduced, tuition might be raised or educational quality might suffer without a 12.6 percent general revenue increase. The recommended increase was approved Jan. 5 by the Illinois Board of Higher Education for fiscal year 1989.

LaTourette said the recommended 12.6 percent increase was above the average increase of 12.1 for other Illinois universities.

He said critics are asking the universities to do more public service with less money. “Public universities have been asked to do a great deal more with the money they have, such as improving undergraduate education, working with public secondary and elementary schools, improving the economic development of the state and improving minority recruitment and retention,” LaTourette said.

“In the early 1970s, Illinois was one of the leaders in higher education. However, for some reason Illinois lost a great deal of leadership in the nation, which is reflected in a number of different ways, such as faculty salaries,” LaTourette said.

He said during the 1970s faculty salaries in Illinois used to be competitive with some of the best universities in the nation. “Now we are lucky to be 3 percent below the average in the nation. We are now struggling to meet the average,” LaTourette said.

The IBHE approved a salary increase recommendation of 10 percent for next year. However, LaTourette said the increase actually amounts to only about 5 percent increase over a two-year period. NIU faculty and staff members did not receive any salary increases for FY88.

LaTourette said the most important case to sell to the legislature is NIU’s overall needs, but “on campus, our most important need is salary increases.”

He said he hoped NIU could convince the General Assembly to approve the appropriations, and also that the political situation in the Assembly was favorable for a tax increase, if necessary. He said there was a greater prospect for a tax increase if the members of the House ran unopposed, or with weak opposition “because this is an election year.”

LaTourette said Illinois is the seventh lowest state in terms of a resident tax burden, with only a 2.5 percent flat-rate tax. The Illinois tax support for higher education increased by only 1 percent in a two year period, he said.

In addition, tax support over a ten-year period increased by only 10 percent, he said. Illinois ranked ninth in the United States per capita income, while ranking 42nd per capita for higher education expenditures.

“On the one hand, Illinois has considerable capacity to provide support for public services, but one could say in terms of public service expenditures, Illinois ranks in the bottom 20 percent,” LaTourette said.

LaTourette said legislatures should put funding toward “quality of life” investments such as schools, roads and water. “Invest in people. As the economy changes, you can change with it.”