The ISU athletic department is again facing budget problems, as revenue shortfalls are expected for both this and next fiscal year.

Although revenue for the department hasn’t dropped — it is actually expected to increase — its expenses will exceed the money brought in.

The causes of the shortfall are many — department salaries are expected to rise by at least 3 percent, an additional $100,000 is expected to go to administrative fees and the cost of scholarships will increase since incoming freshmen athletes are now eligible to attend summer classes.

Early athletic department estimates indicate expenses will be about $630,000 higher than revenue, according to Associate Athletic Director for Business Larry Quant.

Athletic Director Bruce Van De Velde could not be reached for comment.

The expenses threaten to clean out the department’s $3.5 million operating reserve by almost one-third. The reserve is a department savings account created with surplus money from previous budgets.

To balance this year’s budget of $27.6 million, Quant said he expects to have to transfer roughly $100,000 from reserves, but could be as much as $530,000 — worst-case scenario.

This number is expected to jump even higher, with worst-case-scenario estimates at $650,000 for the next fiscal year, as the 2006 budget is expected to be slightly higher at nearly $28 million, he said.

Despite these figures, Quant said he fully expects them to drop drastically, as the department has a couple outlying sources of revenue at its disposal.

“We pay for all athlete medical expenses and we are running at less than we were last year,” Quant said. “You can’t predict what will happen, but we expect to gain around $100,000 from that.

“The other thing is scholarships. The coaches don’t have to award all the scholarships provided and we think that we might gain somewhere between $200,000 to $250,000 there.”

The athletic department hopes football season ticket sales will increase, and Quant said sales are going well so far, despite season ticket prices being up 10.6 percent and prices for single games also rising.

Despite rising costs for football tickets, basketball ticket prices will stay the same, while the number for season ticket holders in both men’s and women’s basketball is not expected to change, prompting the department to budget conservatively.

All 2006 budget projections could change before the Board of Regents approves the department’s budget at its next meeting May 5, however, Quant said he doesn’t expect any.