A new bill went into effect earlier this month that could change how the University of North Florida and other Florida universities use state funds. 

House Bill 707 was put into effect on July 1. The new law authorizes Florida’s state universities to “retain and report” annual reserve balances that exceed a specific amount. The bill also allows universities to include a reserve fund in their carry forward spending plans. 

Scott Bennett, UNF Vice President of Administration of Finance, said that HB 707 allows Florida universities to set aside more money from its carry forward spending plan. A carry forward spending plan is leftover money not used in a budget, something UNF submits yearly. 

“Each year, by state law, we have to set aside 7 percent of our operating budget in a reserve fund,” Bennett said. “Now we have the authority to put more money aside in a reserve fund.”

Bennett said it’s important for universities to put money aside because “you never know what’s going to happen.”

“Like when Covid happened a few years ago or a hurricane hits— you want to have money set aside,” Bennett said.

Bennett said the new legislation gives UNF more flexibility with how it uses its reserve fund. 

“A lot of universities say that we actually need more than 7% of our appropriations in a reserve fund,” Bennett said. “There’s always unforeseen things that come up throughout the year, so It’s nice to have a reserve set aside.”

Bennett said all universities use their reserves differently and added that UNF doesn’t “have a ton of money sitting around.”

“I don’t know that [UNF] is necessarily going to be the ones benefiting from this,” he said.

The new law was approved by the governor in April. 

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