An increasing number of University of Otago staff opting into KiwiSaver and the New Zealand University's Superannuation Scheme compliant fund has led to a budget overrun.
The university's superannuation contributions for the five months to the end of May were $369,000 more than budgeted, even after allowing for the government tax credit of $20 a week per employee, financial services director Grant McKenzie said in a report to last week's university council.
Since September, there had been a 12.4% increase in the number of staff joining a superannuation scheme, he said on Tuesday.
The total number of staff either in KiwiSaver or a KiwiSaver-compliant scheme now stood at more than 600.
Since the start of the year, the university had paid $3.58 million in superannuation contributions, an amount only partly subsidised by tax credits, he said.
"A tax credit only covers the employer contribution for someone who is on a salary of $26,071 a year or less. Our average staff earnings are greater than this."
Mr McKenzie said he expected the budget to balance in future years because the university would increase the amount earmarked for superannuation contributions to an appropriate level.
