Chancellor John Wiley commented on his decision to cut $140,000 from the Associated Students of Madison’s segregated fee proposal Monday, saying cuts must reflect the status of all university budgets.

The committee had proposed to increase the total budget for allocable and non-allocable segregated fees from last year’s $19.6 million to $21.5 million, but Wiley said he wants the cuts to be in tune with the 10 percent tuition increase.

“We are in the middle of a pretty severe budget cut,” he said.

The chancellor called the cuts “symbolic” because “almost nothing is going up by double digit increases.”

Jessica Miller, chair of ASM, said she understood Wiley’s decision.

“I think the basic concern is that with the cuts in the university, all areas that get funding are having to scale back,” Miller said. “The feeling was that an increase in fees of that percent would be reasonable as long as it’s on the same level.”

Wiley congratulated the committee on its efforts in allocating the fees.

“I’m very proud of the way students handled the budget this year,” he said. “They debated very sincerely.”

Jessica Miller said they have not yet decided on how to handle the monetary decrease, but that the Bus Pass Program is unlikely to see cuts because they have committed to a contract.

Rebecca Pifer, chair of ASM’s Finance Committee, said the cuts will most likely be made uniformly across the budget, as opposed to cuts tailored specifically to groups.

“I do not feel it’s appropriate to reopen individual budgets and start looking at them,” Pifer said.

Wiley said he has no suggestions on where the cuts should come from.

“I’m not interested in micro-managing the seg fee budget,” Wiley said. “I thought the process was done by the book.”