Fiscal Cliff Concerns

VINCENNES, IND. (WTHI) -      Worries over a financial deal in Washington D.C. are reaching into the Wabash Valley.

     Members of Congress are still trying to negotiate a deal to keep the country from falling off what is being called the fiscal cliff.

     Without an agreement before the end of the month tax increases will go into effect for everyone and funding for federal agencies will be cut.

     The lack of a deal has not-for-profit agencies worried about the coming year.

     The debate over the fiscal cliff may be going on in Washington but the result of a deal or no deal will be felt around the country.

     One of the biggest fears is that a lack of action could throw the economy back into a recession.

     The Vincennes University Foundation is still feeling the aftershocks of the last financial meltdown.

     "You can go back to 2000, 2008, 2009 and there were some headwinds that business as well as not for profits faced during that time," said V.U. Foundation President Bumper Hostetler.

     Those headwinds translated into less revenue from investments and less money for folks to donate to the foundation.

     Foundation officials say that as the economy has slowly recovered the request for scholarships has doubled and that means the fiscal cliff couldn't have come along at a worse time.

     "That's where we need to keep our nose to the grindstone and know we've got that need and that need is going to continue to grow and just keep working with our generous donors," said Hostetler.

     Of course the deal in D.C. may ultimately determine how generous those donors will be able to be.

     "It's a concern," added Hostetler.  "I think a lot of not for profits nationwide have a concern about it.  We're on the optimistic side that they will eventually get something worked out."

     But time is running short and the worries remain that a trip off the fiscal cliff would wind up hurting a lot more than politicians.

     Charities and other agencies say the longer they have to wait on results the less time they will have to react to any negative impacts they will face.