SIU trustees hear FY26 budgets show balanced finances after multi‑year deficits; board moves to executive session on personnel and litigation

President Daniel Mahoney and campus leaders briefed the Southern Illinois University Board of Trustees on FY26 operating budgets for SIUE and the SIU School of Medicine and described the system’s progress shrinking prior structural deficits and improving cash reserves.

Chancellor James T. Minor told trustees SIUE had submitted an FY26 budget without structural imbalances after a FY25 submission that included a roughly $10,300,000 structural deficit. Minor credited better-than-expected enrollment and improved retention for part of the improvement and said the university achieved the balanced budget without drawing on reserves.

Minor and other presenters described key budget drivers: an expected increase in salary expenses of roughly $6 million to $8 million, an energy and utility cost increase of approximately $2 million to $2.5 million, and continued emphasis on vacancy savings. The transcript records that vacancy-management efforts produced about $6.4 million in savings in the previous year and that the university expects about $6.7 million in vacancy savings in FY26. The presentation also listed FY26 salary increases totaling about $3.6 million,…