Regents questioned UNLV leadership on whether its actual athletics budget deficiency was north of $30 million or millions higher than the university reported in a 10-year financial analysis.
UNLV’s report, discussed at a Friday hearing of the Nevada Board of Regents in Henderson, raised red flags with some regents regarding how the school reported its financials and how it can pay down its massive debt.
The report stated for the fiscal year 2024 UNLV had a budget shortfall of nearly $27 million, with nearly $21 million in debt added to the reserves fund that was already $6 million in the red, which was carried over from the previous fiscal year.
A $5.3 million transfer of money into the athletic department’s operating revenues from funds UNLV receives from the Nevada System of Higher Education’s operating distribution pool was critiqued as not being transparent and likened to “creative accounting” by regent Heather Brown.
Funding questioned
Further estimates show plans to utilize $11 million from that fund in fiscal year 2025 and $5.5 million per year in fiscal years 2026 to 2029.
“That money is not infinite, that is money that comes from NSHE investments,” Brown said. “I get it, fine, it’s allowed, whatever, but I don’t actually think that this is telling the truth. Because what this is actually saying to me is that you’re $31 million in the hole, not $26 million in the hole. You just took unrestricted operating dollars to keep it the same.”
UNLV chief financial officer Casey Wyman said the decision to pull the $5.3 million from the pool wasn’t made lightly and was the byproduct of a deliberate process. Wyman said he attended a meeting in December with UNLV athletic director Erick Harper and then-university president Keith Whitfield to discuss where the current year’s fiscal year was unfolding.
Wyman called the discussion “constructive.” He said the decision was made to pull money from the operations pool to bring back some things within the athletic department that were previously reduced instead of making cuts.
“To restore that monetary amount to a break-even point, knowing that would then bridge the gap for this current fiscal year and then also allows us more time to evaluate our performance,” Wyman said.
UNLV’s projection also shows that the budget shortfall will continue to be, not including the potential operation distribution pool deposits, nearly $27 million each year through fiscal year 2029.
Rising costs
With expenses rising for college athletic programs across the country, Brown was sympathetic to that point. But the way UNLV was trying to address some of its problems was a sticking point with her.
“Taking from unrestricted operating distribution in order to not increase the deficit is not a plan to not have a deficit, it’s a plan to rob Peter to pay Paul,” Brown said. “Because UNLV is not going to have unlimited amounts of money in this other bucket … and it doesn’t look like the spending itself is going down. We’re just moving money around with the hopes that nobody … is going to ask this question and you’ve bought yourself another year until you have to present to the board again, and that’s just not fair.”
Wyman responded to Brown’s concern, saying it was not the intent to be deceitful with the using of funds from the operating pool.
“It was associated with moving what resources we have to not decrease our athletic support,” Wyman said. “We listed 10 to 20 different things that unfolded in the course of the first six months of the fiscal year to address … Then, therefore, it was an informed decision for then-president (Whitfield) to make that resource allocation.”
Harper said it is not unusual for universities to support athletic departments, claiming that 98 percent of schools in the U.S. have an athletic department deficit at the end of the year.
Mountain West payments
UNLV is set to begin receiving money from the Mountain West potentially starting this year, pending litigation brought forth by the Pac-12 conference tied to poaching fees. UNLV is guaranteed $19 million to $24.8 million between a potential lump sum payment and future monthly payments to be paid over six years by the Mountain West.
Brown questioned why none of that was budgeted to pay down debt, because it was only listed under the conference and NCAA distributions line in the operating revenues. Harper said some of that money will go toward the shortfall and the department would revise its budget to reflect that.
The board approved the athletic budget reports of UNR, College of Southern Nevada and other state institutions, with UNLV’s requested to be heard again. Regents want their issues clarified before approving the report.
Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on X.
