At a recent board of trustees meeting, Oakland University announced its athletics budget for the fiscal year 2010. The budget calls for a total expense of $5,685,560, about a 9.1 percent increase from the budget of 2009.

Athletics department revenue is expected to exceed costs by $15,834. Last year, the proposed budget projected a profit of $7,333, but instead lost $63,076, according to estimations.

The approval of the 2010 budget comes after two initial proposed budgets were tabled by the board, one at a regular trustees meeting and the other at a special meeting to discuss the athletics budget. The board tabled both proposals because of ambiguity about where the money would go, not because of specific figures.

Athletic director Tracy Huth said he was understanding of the board’s grievances with the earlier proposals and expressed no bitterness over the protracted process.

“I do not consider the board of trustees to have dragged out the budget process,” he said. “The information provided in the board-approved format that we use for budget presentation did not provide enough information for them. It was a matter of working with them until the information they needed to make a decision was present.”

The next Finance, Audit and Investment Committee meeting is July 24 at 10 a.m. followed by a formal BOT meeting on July 29 at 2 p.m.