The Associated Students of Madison Student Council claimed fiscal responsibility for its internal budget approved at $1.2 million Wednesday night.
The budget prepared by Finance Committee Chair Matt Beemsterboer, presented to the council, was approved by a vote of 13-1-6, with an 8 percent increase after much debate of line items including salary of staff positions, a creative works fund and housing and tenant support fund.
According to ASM Secretary Kurt Gosselin, there have been proposed caps on the budget in recent years. The first cap on the budget was proposed several years ago to bring accountability to committee members not being fiscally responsible in allocating funds.
“We decided to use the higher education price index in order to cap the internal budget,” Gosselin said. “We use the rate of inflation … and try not to go above it.”
He added the inflation rate has been approximately 3 percent in past years. Although they doubled this rate, the committee felt as long as they kept it under 10 percent, they would maintain fiscal responsibility.
Vice Chair Tom Templeton said he was greatly in support of the chief of staff position, adding almost every student government in the nation has the position.
The added chief of staff position was allocated $8,454, but the position of program and campus organizer was cut, along with the fringe benefits for this position at $57,730.
Templeton said the removal of one of the staff positions helped demonstrate ASM’s priorities. The council said it would use the $57,730 for direct services to students and other initiative programs.
“What can we give to campus? Do we want to give them staff people or student services?” Gosselin said. “We might not be able to fund everything, but we can give the students a student government they can access more easily. This is better to help the student body then paying for a staff position that only helps us internally.”
The $5,000 creative works fund was part of a new initiative program under direct services for student organizations. Beemsterboer said he liked the idea of funding the development of a creative arts project. The fund would help the pilot program get off the ground.
At a tie-breaker vote of 9-8-5, deciding vote by the chair, the housing and tenant support services was funded from zero to $50,000, an addition motioned by Rep. Erik Paulson.
“It simply keeps the program alive. At least keep it alive as an option to consider for the future,” Paulson said. “Once we get the program running and defined, we don’t have to run it. We can contract it out, get it verified.”
Some of the other committee members said they felt the fund was not a fiscally responsible decision and speculated it being immediately cut by Student Services Finance Committee, which is the next step in approving the internal budget.
Also mentioned at the meeting was second year graduate student Rep. Katrina Flores’ resignation. Saying her time might better be spent elsewhere, she stepped down from her position.
“She was getting close to being removed,” Chair Tyler Junger said. “She had accumulated several absences already, almost using up the allotted number from the attendance policy.”
