State universities, along with other state agencies, are preparing contingency plans to deal with state budget cuts for the second time in less than a year.

An announcement this afternoon from the University of Virginia describes general strategies the university will take in response to state tax revenues that continue to fall short of expectations. Gov. Tim Kaine instructed state agencies earlier this week to submit plans by July 22 for state funding reductions of 5 percent, 10 percent and 15 percent for the current fiscal year.

Kaine gave similar instructions to state institutions last fall as budgets were cut for both last fiscal year and this one.

In a lengthy letter about the cuts, UVa President John Casteen explained how past cuts will make future reductions in support more difficult, while praising the university’s fiscal strength and ability to deal with them. He also pledged to resort to layoffs only “after all rational and all other remedies have failed.”

Virginia Tech spokesman Larry Hincker said today that the university is preparing general plans, absent of specific details of how Tech would meet the latest round of cuts to its education and general fund.

“We received a letter and we’re preparing high-level plans in order to respond,” Hincker said. “But it’s impossible to do anything with any level of detail in order to meet the state deadline.”

State support for Tech’s education and general fund was cut by nearly $30 million this year. When state general fund reductions announced in the fall of 2007 and 2008 are added, the cumulative effect is a decrease of about $42.5 million.