Attrition has been a key component of the budget picture for the past two years. With labor costs and the associated overhead accounting for over 85% of the total budget, vacant positions, although a strain on the program, reflect favorably on the financial picture.
The decrease in both the benefit and indirect rates has also been favorable for the budget. That, combined with a one-time increase of $400k from NSF in the core for FY11, has erased our deficit spending there and has created a substantial surplus for the remainder of the fiscal year as well as positioned us quite well to take on the projected level funding of FY12. Despite that, we are continuing our efforts to increase non core funding with more proposal submissions to various funding opportunities. Those efforts are paying off as evidenced by an increase of 79% in non core funding so far in FY11 over it's lowest point in FY09.
We will continue to leverage our resources with new projects and staff as appropriate to weather these challenging economic times. The financial outlook for FY13 is uncertain, but with the anticipated decrease in both the benefit and overhead rates again for FY12, along with our carryover, we're in a good financial position to meet the goals set forth in the 2013 proposal.