ASI
proposes mulitiple fee options to increase
general fund
By
Joseph Serna and
Katie Plourd
Online Forty-Niner
A student fee increase for the Associated Students Inc. general fund will be
on the referendum Monday, giving students three options for a fee increase
and a fourth voting against.
According to ASI Executive Director Richard Haller, two of the three options
will serve as long-term solutions to ASI funding problems. Annual Consumer
Price Index adjustments are included in the options.
The corporation’s spending power has dropped over 40 percent since the
last general fund increase in 1991 due to a combination of a loss of investments
in the Public Employee Retirement System, a twice-raised minimum wage in California
and the rate of inflation, Haller said.
According to the resolution, the two long-term solutions call for either a
$4 per semester/$3 summer session fee increase ($11 per academic year) or a
$3 per semester/$2 summer session fee increase ($8 per academic year). Both
options include an annual fee adjustment based on the Consumer Price Index—All
Urban Consumers for Los Angeles, Riverside and Orange Counties.
This means whatever the ASI general fund fee can afford today, the ASI general
fund fee will be able to fund 10 years from now, according to Haller.
The third fee option is a simple fee increase of $5 per semester/$4 summer
session increase ($14 per academic year) without the fee adjustment. This option,
Haller said, is a short-term solution for funding ASI; he guessed within the
next five years he would have to appear before the Senate to talk about budgeting
problems
again.
According to the 2005-06 ASI Budget Summary, money from the general fund is
distributed toward a number of entities within ASI.
According to Haller, the Isabel Patterson Child Development Center (IPCDC)
receives the largest portion of the fund with 23.37 percent. Government operations,
which include Student Government Offices, Senate Executive Offices, Judicial
Offices and the California Student Association receive 21.3 percent. The AS
Business Office receives 13.4 percent, the Office of the Executive Director
receives 10.79 percent and Human Resources receives 10.48 percent. Student
media, information technology, commissions, the Developmental Office and the
Recycling Center all receive less than 10 percent of the general fund. The
breakdown of fund distribution within each group is determined in the annual
ASI budget.
There are four alternative solutions to a fee increase to acquire the funding
ASI needs, Haller said. The options include using reserve funding and redirecting
revenue from other funds, such as the Beach Pride fund or Student Organization
fund. Using the reserves would serve as a short-term solution and only supplement
the needed funds for one year. Redirecting money from the other two funds would
be an more possible result, Haller said.
Another option would be eliminating increased compensation for ASI employees,
such as the 250 student assistants ASI employs, as well as program staff, administration
staff, IPCDC teachers, secretaries and custodians. Although eliminating the
compensation of these employees will not reduce their salary, Haller said it
could cause further problems if minimum wage increases. ASI would likely have
to layoff employees to make up for the necessary increased wages if compensation
funds are eliminated.
Reducing money given to athletic scholarships is another option. The university
president would have the ultimate decision to carry out this option because
ASI signed an agreement to direct $800,000 a year to athletic scholarships,
according to Haller.
A final option would be to merge the student organization fund with the general
fund. This would result in student organizations having to compete with institutions
in the general fund for money.
All of these solutions are partial solutions to the ASI funding problem, said
Haller.
The ASI general fund increase will appear on the ballot March 27-29.
ASI will hold an informational meeting regarding the fee increase proposal
from 12:30 to 2 p.m. Thursday in USU 304 and Monday from 12:30 to 2 p.m. in
USU 303.
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