NIU cannot use a large amount of idle money to offset a probable tuition increase because it would violate state legislation.

Eddie Williams, vice president of Finance and Planning, said according to legislation, NIU can use the nearly $5.9 million in idle money generated from a 1986 bond refinancing effort for non-instruction purposes only, not for operating costs such as a tuition increase.

The clarification came after there was some confusion among Student Association senators at Sunday’s meeting on whether the idle bond money could be used to offset the probable tuition increase.

Williams said because the idle money was generated from a bond covenant for construction projects, it can only be used for construction projects such as parking lots or land acquisitions.

Under a bond covenant, NIU sells bonds to investors who will eventually benefit from the project the money is used for.

“The money is not free,” Williams said. NIU is on a repayment schedule and uses the interest it earns from investing the idle money to pay back the bond owners.

In addition, the Board of Regents, which governs NIU, can sell bonds only for non-instruction purposes, he said.

Some of the confusion at the SA meeting stems from the fact that $4 million of the remaining bond money was pledged for the ill-fated DeKalb Civic Arena project which is on hold under Gov. Jim Edgar’s capital development projects freeze.

Williams said if the project officially falls through, the money could be used to build the proposed Student Life Center or to address the parking problem, although there are no definite uses for the funds.

The 1986 bond refinancing effort generated a total of $10 million, about $4.1 million of which already has been used.

Nearly $2.6 million went to various parking lot improvements, $346,000 went to purchase the Normal Road property for the Center for Women’s Studies and $551,000 for land acquisition on the west end of campus.

Student Regent James Mertes said he brought up the issue as an example of inefficient spending by the NIU administration and the Regents.