Faculty and staff members at Illinois state colleges might not get a 6 percent pay raise next year due to a lack of support for Gov. James Thompson’s proposed tax increase.

oss Hodel, Illinois Board of Higher Education deputy director of fiscal affairs, said the pay increase is in jeopardy because budget allocations for fiscal 1988 are based upon an increase in revenue from increased taxes. “Gov. Thompson has told us (the IBHE) that we will not receive our increases if he does not receive his,” he said.

“Our (IBHE) budget is based on an increase in revenue,” Hodel said. Without such an increase, the IBHE “would have to redo the budget to put it at last year’s level,” he said.

In addition, some program cuts might be enacted if the budget stays at last year’s level, Hodel said. “Rising costs could limit some programs,” he said. Things such as new library material and travel expenses cost more every year and face possible cuts, he said.

Funding for the pay raise is not expected to come from alternate sources either, Hodel said. “It’s hard to give an increase with no new funds,” he said.

Jim Bray, Thompson’s press secretary, said Thompson has been out campaigning for his tax increase since announcing it in February. The tax proposal includes raising the state income tax and broadening the state sales tax base to include items in areas such as entertainment.

“Gov. Thompson does not feel the tax increase will go through. That’s why he is out campaigning for it,” Bray said. It is difficult to persuade the average citizen to accept an increase in taxes, he added.

owever, Thompson has “written his budget dependent on a tax increase,” Bray said. “If there is no tax hike, there will be no increases (in funding) for anyone, not just higher education,” he said. It remains to be seen how the Illinois General Assembly will determine what to do with the budget, he said. “The General Assembly will write their own budget and pass that,” Bray added.

State Rep. John Countryman, R-DeKalb, said it is too soon to tell how the General Assembly will act on the proposal. The future of the pay increase is also uncertain, he said.

“In reality, the General Assembly is not determining the salary increase,” Countryman said. It is up to individual universities to decide where to spend their money. Funds can be taken from one program and given to another, he said.

“The General Assembly will have to make some determinants,” Countryman said. “I don’t think all the tax proposals will pass, but I can’t rule out the possibility of one or more tax increases going through,” he said.

State Sen. Patrick Welch, D-Peru, has said the tax increase has little chance of passing the General Assembly. The pay raise, he believes, can be funded from other sources.

Funds amounting to $125 million from federal tax relief and almost $2 billion in uncollected state debts are among the alternatives to a tax increase, Welch said.

owever, Countryman disagrees with Welch. “You can’t count that money until it’s in your hand,” Countryman said.