In his first major public act, the new
president of the $3 billion California stem cell agency this week
whacked away at its proposed operational budget for the coming fiscal
year, cutting $200,000 here and $20,000 there.
When he was done, Randy Mills offered
up a $17.3 million budget that reflected basically the same level of
spending as this year. It could be even less given inflation and the
vagaries of estimating expenditures for the current fiscal year.
Current spending is estimated to hit
$17.4 million by June 30, the end of the fiscal year. But that
estimate is a month old and is likely to change somewhat. The budget
proposed in early May by former CIRM President Alan Trounson hit
$17.9 million, a 9.5 percent increase over estimated expenditures for
this year.
Mills' tight budget sent a parsimonious
message to the agency staff and the agency's governing board. It also
gave him more maneuvering room in upcoming years. The agency is
limited by law to spending no more than 6 percent of its grant awards
on administrative expenses. A possibility exists that it could run
out of operational funds if it does not carefully watch its spending.
Some members of the board have expressed concern in the past that the
capped amount is too small for effective management and oversight of
the agency's large portfolio of awards.
The new CEO's budget also reflects the first time that the agency has not seen a significant year-to-year increase in its proposed spending compared to actual spending.
The new CEO's budget also reflects the first time that the agency has not seen a significant year-to-year increase in its proposed spending compared to actual spending.
Mills, former CEO of Osiris
Therapeutics of Maryland, did not make across-the-board cuts in
Trounson's initial CIRM budget. Rather Mills surgically excised the
cash, including $50,000 from his own office.
In terms of agency activities, the
category of “reviews, meetings and workshops” took the biggest
hit. Mills sliced $333,000 from what once was a total of $2.5
million. A meeting for the 600 CIRM grantees was eliminated along
with $100,000 worth of meetings with outside advisors on the agency's
complex disease team projects. Other outside contracting was lopped
by $160,000. But even relatively small items were hit. A plan to
spend $5,000 for a sponsorship at a personalized medicine conference
fell by the way. Plans for training in the finance department were
trimmed by $2,120.
Mills' budget will now go to the full
board in a telephonic meeting on June 13 for what is expected to be routine approval. A number of public
locations are available where interested parties can listen and
comment. The specific locations can be found on the meeting agenda.
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