A $100 million midyear cut to both the University of California and California State University systems is now a strong possibility, based on a revenue forecast released by the nonpartisan California Legislative Analyst’s Office Wednesday.

The report, which offers a multi-year outlook on California’s revenue and expenditures, projected that revenue will fall $3.7 billion below expected levels by the end of the fiscal year.

Gov. Jerry Brown will consider the report when deciding whether to enact the $100 million “trigger” cut if state funds do not reach expected levels.

Although some cuts are likely to occur, the exact amount will not be known until December when Brown reaches a decision, said Ana Matosantos, director of the California Department of Finance, in a statement released in response to the Legislative Analysts Office report.

A similar report on the state’s projected revenue will be released by the Department of Finance on Dec. 15.

Brown will rely on the more optimistic of the two reports to decide whether or not to cut state spending, said Steve Boilard, managing principal analyst at the Legislative Analyst’s Office.

If both reports come to similar conclusions regarding the state’s revenue forecast, a trigger cut will be approved, Boilard said.

Historically, tuition increases follow a reduction in state support, said Daniel Mitchell, professor emeritus of the UCLA Anderson School of Management and the Luskin School of Public Affairs.

The UC Board of Regents had planned to vote on a proposal for another $2.8 billion from the state for the upcoming school year at a meeting this week. But the regents canceled the meeting in response to warnings of violent protest from university police.

It is unknown whether the meeting will be rescheduled or conducted as a teleconference. As a result, the vote for the UC budget proposal has also been put on hold.

UC President Mark Yudof has said if the university receives the funding requested from the state, tuition fees would not need to be raised for the upcoming school year.

He has also said that even if the state cuts UC funding by $100 million, the university will not institute a midyear tuition increase.

But it seems unlikely the UC’s funding request for the 2011-2012 academic year will be met by appropriate state support, according to the Legislative Analyst Office’s projections, Mitchell said.

If the university falls short of money, a tuition increase for the upcoming school year could be brought back to the table, Mitchell said. To offset current budget shortfall, the state would need to enact $2 billion in cuts for state programs – including California’s public universities.

“I am more concerned that the university, though it planned ahead, seems to be without a realistic plan for the next budget year,“ said Mitchell said. He added that the UC appears to have failed to have a farsighted outlook in its budgetary strategy.

If the university receives the predicted $100 million cut in spending, it will look at short-term strategies to absorb the cuts by transferring funds and spending more prudently, said UC spokeswoman Diane Klein.

Klein reiterated the university’s commitment to prevent future tuition hikes, saying the UC will do everything to make sure the budget shortfall doesn’t become permanent.

Despite the grim outlook, the legislature does face a smaller budget problem than what was projected last fiscal year, Boilard said.