Contingency fund slashed

Poor accounting in previous school year leaves unexpected hole in student budget

At its Dec. 3 meeting, Student Senate announced that this year’s contingency fund is $57,000 less than planned for. That means that student organizations will have very little money available to them for club activities that were not anticipated in the budget requests they made at the beginning of the school year. About $28,000 remains in the contingency fund for the remainder of the academic year.

Last year, under the 2002-2003 Student Government, $57,000 was allocated for pre-design planning for a parking garage to help alleviate on-campus parking problems for students. The money was set to come out of last year’s budget; Senate approved the allocation with the understanding that it would not seriously affect students during the 2003-2004 academic year.

While the money was allocated from last year’s budget, the funds were never transferred to a separate account, leaving a bill to be paid and no way to pay it. Thus, SCC’s administration pulled the money from this year’s contingency fund.

Student Government representatives expressed extreme frustration on multiple levels. According to Vice President Sean Keller, one main source of frustration was that the college administration did not respect due process and communication with the Student Government in their decision to pull the money from the fund.

Budget and Finance Sen. Sandie Hazzard said the main problem was that it came out of the blue, and there is something very flawed in a system in which $57,000 can go unaccounted for.

All appeared to agree that one key source of frustration was that there is little money left for the remainder of the school year and many organizations who want it. A number of decisions affecting the budget have already been made this year that may have been decided differently had Student Government known this was coming.

Perhaps another frustration is that approximately $62,000 was spent planning for a parking garage that will not be built. According to Randy Stegmeier, director of facilities for the College, SCC does not intend to have the garage constructed at this time. After looking at the budget, SCC concluded that the garage is not feasible.

A law prohibits institutions from spending state money on roads and parking structures, so the College would have to finance the garage through other means. Area community college presidents are seeking to have the law overturned. Until then, the plans are on hold.

Student Government Advisor Scott Saunders suggested that reducing budget allocations for nonactive clubs and cutting spending all around may help alleviate the strain on funding for student organizations.

One thing is clear: students can expect less funding for campus activities for the remainder of the year, as the Senate will use significantly more caution in allocating the remaining funds.