NIU faculty and administrators have expressed support for Gov. James Thompson’s proposed tax increase, calling the proposal a necessity if faculty and staff members expect a pay raise next year.

Richard Beard, president of the NIU chapter of the University Professionals of Illinois, said the faculty union plans to lobby for the tax increase. “We (the UPI) plan to talk to legislators because we don’t see any alternatives,” Beard said. A pay increase is necessary for NIU faculty and staff and the only way to get it seems to be through a tax hike, he said.

In addition, the UPI is working to get more than the average 6 percent pay raise Thompson proposed, Beard said. The Illinois Board of Higher Education compared NIU with other institutions in Illinois and found NIU to be below average in faculty salaries, he said. The UPI is attempting to sponsor legislation to bring NIU salaries more in line with other schools, Beard added.

Arnold Fox, executive committee member of the NIU chapter of the American Association of University Professionals, said the AAUP has not discussed either the tax increase or the pay raise. He said contacting state legislators “might be necessary” to make the AAUP position known.

Concerning the UPI attempt to raise NIU salaries by more than 6 percent, Fox said, “The UPI can try to do that, but it’s hard to do without funds. Obviously, we need the tax increase.”

Fox said a 6 percent pay raise is misleading because it is figured from 90 percent of all Illinois faculty salaries. In reality, a 5.4 percent raise has been called for, Fox said.

Without a tax increase, there are “not many alternatives to turn to” for the additional revenue needed to fund the pay hike, said Roderick Groves, chancellor of the Board of Regents. “Additional student charges” might be needed to offset the loss of expected revenue, Groves said. “We (the Board of Regents) are reluctant to go in that direction,” he said. However, money is needed and there is little the Regents can do, Groves added.

“The Regents are clearly in support of a tax increase to generate the revenue the governor calls for,” Groves said. At this time, however, “it is hard to judge the configuration of support and resistance” to the tax increase within the General Assembly, he said.

Both State Rep. John Countryman, R-DeKalb, and State Sen. Patrick Welch, D-Peru, have said they are not in favor of raising taxes and do not expect Thompson’s tax proposals to pass the General Assembly. Thompson has proposed increasing the state income tax and expanding the state sales tax base to include items in areas such as entertainment.

NIU President John LaTourette agreed it is too early to be certain of the fate of the proposed tax increase and the pay raise. “I hope the legislators look at the strengths of the state and see what has to be done for the future,” he said. One such strength is higher education. Investments in higher education are iinvestments in the future, LaTourette added.