Article

SA may increase funds by $100,000 this year

The increased revenue was proposed because an underestimation of student enrollment generated more money from mandatory student activities fees than anticipated
Gail Hoffer - Staff Writer

Student Association groups won’t have to pinch pennies anymore, now that an extra $100,000 has been allocated to various organizations, due to an underestimation in student enrollment. “The additional money was unaccounted for,” said SA Treasurer Brian Davison.

The increased revenue was proposed because an underestimation of student enrollment generated more money from mandatory student activities fees than anticipated. The Financial Council unanimously voted for the increase.

The majority of the money would go toward projects associated with the addition to the University Union. In order to pay for labor fees to move SA groups to the new union, $50,000 would go to a relocation project. Another $15,000 would pay for capital replacement (including furniture for new offices), according to the financial report from Tuesday’s Student Assembly meeting.

The Financial Council accepted SA Financial Vice President Jason Lee’s recommendation of $2,500 toward business replacements. This money would go specifically to SA businesses such as Cold Copy, Print Shop and the Box Office to pay for items like copiers and printers, Davison said.

The remainder of the money went toward ad subsidies for SA groups advertising in pipedream, replacement of capital for SA businesses, the SA discretionary fund as well as other fees that must be covered under the rules of the SA constitution.

In addition, the College Reserve would receive $20,988 of the total allocation. The College Reserve is a fund from which money is allocated to specific residential communities. The money is distributed according to the amount of people in each community, Davison said.

Another constitutional obligation is the Convocations Committee, which pays for people to go to or hold conferences, and would receive $400.

The proposal that the Financial Council put forth still needs to be approved by the administration.

“It’s a pretty conservative proposal. I don’t think the administration will have a problem with it,” Davison said. “It is my understanding that if they have a problem, they can send it back and we can rectify it and meet them halfway.”