Can't Get Public Variable in Code to Update from Inspector

Hello everyone - I suspect this is a quick question. I have attached some code below. I would like to be able to use this same countdown timer code across a bunch of different levels but only modify the "allowedTime" variable in the inspector. As of right now I can't get anything I put in the inspector to update the public variable. It always locks to 90 seconds. I have tried removing the "=90" part in the script but then the timer just defaults to 0.

Any thoughts/ suggestions how to fix would be appreciated.

 // the textfield to update the time to
 private var textfield:GUIText;
 
 // time variables
 public var allowedTime:int = 90;
 private var currentTime = allowedTime;
 
 
 function Awake()
 {
     // retrieve the GUIText Component and set the text
     textfield = GetComponent(GUIText);
     
     UpdateTimerText();
     
     // start the timer ticking
     Tick();
 }
 
 function Tick()
 {
     // while there are seconds left
     while(currentTime > 0)
     {
         // wait for 1 second
         yield WaitForSeconds(1);
         
         // reduce the time
         currentTime--;
         
         UpdateTimerText();
     }
     
     // game over
     print("Game Over");
 }
 
 function UpdateTimerText()
 {
     // update the textfield
     textfield.text = currentTime.ToString();
 }